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Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 29 Apr 1997

Vol. 478 No. 4

Other Questions. - Army Equitation School.

Ivor Callely

Question:

8 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Defence the current resources and personnel available to the Army Equitation School; if he will give comparative figures for 1992 and 1987; and if he will make a statement on the likely development of the school. [11228/97]

The Army Equitation School currently has a complement of two international and two national riders. In addition, there are currently five equitation cadets in the Military College who will come on stream in 1997 and 1998. The school has 47 horses of which five are international and 17 are national standard showjumpers.The remainder are made up of student standard horses, brood mares, work horses, etc. The relevant figures for 1992 were two international and three national riders. There were also 47 horses in use in 1992, of which four were international and 18 were national standard showjumpers. In 1987 the school had four international and two national riders with 66 horses of which 11 were international and three were national standard showjumpers.

A new headquarters building has recently been constructed for the equitation school and infrastructural facilities in place in the school are adequate for its needs. A new horse transporter has been purchased which has led to improvements in terms of the economy of operations, flexibility and independence.

We are all very proud of the Army Equitation School. Is the Minister satisfied all the necessary supports have been put in place to ensure the continued success of the school? Is he aware of requests that have not been met in terms of the needs of the school?

The consultants' report on the review of the Defence Forces recommended that the equitation school should be closed, but as Minister for Defence I am proud I persuaded my Government colleagues that should not happen.

After much pressure from this side of the House.

I am proud that in the past two years, for the first time in a long time, five cadets have been recruited so that there will be a continuation of young officers coming into the equitation school. This year four cadets are being recruited to the equitation school. A new headquarters has been constructed and a state of the art transporter has been purchased. We are in negotiations at present for money for horses. Coming from Kildare, Deputy Power will be aware it is not the easiest thing in the world to find international standard showjumpers, bearing in mind that the equitation school deals in Irish horses. Because of the competitive market, huge prices are paid for horses. The purpose of the equitation school is to promote the Irish horse abroad, and therefore we are confined to getting good young international standard Irish horses.

If the Deputy has information that requests are outstanding I would be glad to hear from him. As in any walk of life, regardless of how much we have we always want a little more, but it is a question of ensuring a solid foundation for the future of the equitation school.

I recognise the basic requirement of the school is a good horse. Is the Minister saying there is a difficulty with the purchase of horses in terms of the cost implications?

There is always a difficulty in getting the right quality horse. We take advice from the equitation school, particularly the colonel in charge. There is a purchasing board that tries to find suitable horses. For those who know the horse business, as I am sure the Deputy does——

Not as well as the Minister.

——the last thing they want others to know is that they are interested in purchasing. There is no such thing as a set price for a horse, it depends on how much a person is prepared to give. One must be discreet. It takes good people to find suitable horses and make an appropriate bid. In latter years the equitation school has leased horses from people who do not want to sell them and we could use those horses. This is good policy. When possible we avail of the opportunity to purchase horses, but as it is often difficult to find the right type of horse, we must take advice from the equitation school.

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