I thank the Chairman and members for the invitation to present to the committee today the strategic plan for 2009 to 2012 for Horse Sport Ireland. The Chairman has already introduced my colleagues, Mr. Damien McDonald, Ms Alison Corbally and Mr. Mark Bolger.
The sport horse industry is an important part of our economy, in particular in rural areas. A recent University College Dublin, UCD, report identified 110,000 sport horses in the country. Some 56,000 people participate in equestrian activities regularly. On the economic side, UCD found that the sector was worth more than €400 million per annum to the economy and provided approximately 16,000 full-time jobs. It also has a tourist orientation in that many people visit Ireland to take part in equestrian-based activities. It is regionally well distributed. Young people from five to six years and upwards participate in sport horse and equestrian activities. It is a good outdoor pursuit and it has been established that it is of therapeutic value for young people.
The concept of a single governing body for the sport or sector has been on the agenda for the last 15 years. In 2001 a group under the chairmanship of Liam Connellan, the former president of the RDS, produced a report recommending the establishment of such a body. For a variety of reasons, however, it was impossible to reach agreement between the different factions to get a streamlined organisation to represent the industry.
Mr. Michael Dowling, the former Secretary General of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, produced a report in 2006 and the new body, Horse Sport Ireland, came into existence in 2007. A substantial amount of set up work was done in the meantime, with agreement being reached on various structures. Horse Sport Ireland then became the governing body for the sector in January 2008 and is recognised by the FEI, the international governing body, by the Irish Sports Council and the Olympic Council of Ireland. The Department transferred responsibility for maintaining the Irish horse register to Horse Sport Ireland in July 2008.
This brought the breeding, sport and leisure sides of the industry together, as envisaged in the Dowling report. Horse Sport Ireland operates the high performance programmes for the Olympic disciplines of showjumping, eventing and dressage, as well as FEI disciplines of carriage driving and endurance. We also work closely with Para Equestrian Ireland in the delivery of its high performance programme. Funding for high performance programmes comes from the Irish Sports Council and the relevant affiliate bodies, Show Jumping Ireland and Eventing Ireland.
Horse Sport Ireland has 18 affiliated bodies. Since Horse Sport Ireland was set up, Carriage Driving Ireland has wound up its operations and become a formal section of Horse Sport Ireland. In addition, The Federation of Irish Polo Clubs and Trek Ireland have recently joined as affiliates.
The organisation has opened offices in Naas. Eventing Ireland, the Irish Pony Society, the Association of Irish Riding Establishments, the Association of Irish Riding Clubs and the carriage driving section of HSI are based in our offices in Naas, while Show Jumping Ireland has its offices in the same building. Having most of the affiliate bodies under the same roof is conducive to working together and has made matters more convenient for our customers.
Education and training are a key focus of the new body and we are the lead organisation operating the equestrian Skillnet training programme under the guidance of a steering group consisting of nominees of the affiliate bodies. In January 2009, we were approved by the Further Education and Training Awards Council as a provider of FETAC programmes. Horse Sport Ireland's coaching programme is internationally recognised and has been purchased as a template by the International Governing Body, the FEI, the British Equestrian Federation and the Scottish Equestrian Federation.
Horse Sport Ireland is a 32 county body and is a limited company run by a board of directors made up of 19 members nominated by the various affiliate bodies. The chairman is nominated by the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism in consultation with the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. The funding amounts in total to €3.7 million to run the entire organisation. Some funding also comes from registrations and affiliate fees.
We published our strategic plan in May 2009 which sets out our plans from now until 2012. We picked 2012 because it is a seminal year in competitive sport because the Olympic Games are taking place in London. This plan has been circulated to members so I do not intend to go through it in detail. However, I wish to highlight a couple of issues which we are dealing with that are covered in the plan and some that are covered elsewhere.
On the breeding side, the Irish sport horse studbook topped the World Breeding Federation for sport horse rankings for event horses for each of the past 14 years. However, we cannot be complacent about this as the sport is changing and other countries are specifically developing their breeding programmes for the eventing market.
On the show jumping side our fortunes as a breeder of top-class international show jumpers have declined alarmingly. In 2009, of the top 200 show jumping horses in the world rankings only three were Irish bred. This is a dreadful decline. Members were familiar with the names of Irish bred-horses and their riders at arenas throughout the country and the world. Unfortunately that is no longer the case and we must deal with this problem. We have moved to install a new breeding programme to address this. If we are successful, it will still take at least a decade to see the benefits of the new programme so it is imperative that we move quickly if we are to regain lost ground.
The main elements of Horse Sport Ireland's new breeding programme are a clearly defined breeding goal. There are young people in every parish performing with horses. Many of them are leisure hobbies — almost two thirds of the horses in Ireland are for leisure activities — but we want to ensure we are at the highest level in the competitive end of the industry. A simplified classification system and increased transparency within the mare and stallion inspection regime form part of that goal, with enhanced breeder information and education so breeders have as much information as possible. The breeder will decide but we want him to make an informed decision with the most comprehensive information so this is a cornerstone of the new breeding policy, to empower breeders to make informed breeding decisions. Ultimately, sport horse breeding is an economic activity and breeders can get a return if animals are produced in accordance with market requirements.
Breeders find it difficult, however, to make a return on poor quality stock and we have a problem at present with over-production. There is a glut of horses at present and some of them are making little or nothing. We are concerned also about the huge number of horses currently abandoned in the country, which could pose huge challenges as the winter approaches. We met the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food this morning on this very issue and made clear our concerns and impressed on him our feelings about the difficulties with animal welfare.
On the breeding side, I would like to acknowledge the expertise, leadership and financial support of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. The other key area to which we have been giving top priority is addressing the use of prohibited substances. As members know, there have been very high-profile cases. At the last Olympic Games in Hong Kong, a rider's horse tested positive for a prohibited substance. That is a difficulty. We took action immediately and established an expert group under the chairmanship of Dr. Gordon Holmes to advise on what measures, procedures and controls need to be put in place to ensure we never find ourselves in such a position again. Dr. Holmes's group reported earlier this year and we are now in the process of implementing its recommendations. We are determined to have a clean sport. We all know that in international competitive sport, and not only in equestrian sport, the good name of the country is tarnished when people are found with prohibited substances in their systems. We are determined to root that out.
We introduced a medication and substances log book for the team horses at senior international level for submission to the team veterinarian in advance of being selected for the European senior eventing and show jumping championships for 2009. This log book requirement will be extended and incorporated into our new rule book to apply from 1 January 2010. It should also be noted that this is an international problem and is not confined to Ireland. Anybody reading the international equestrian press will see that a number of very prominent equestrian countries have had difficulties with positive results in recent times.
The FEI recently followed the example of Ireland and published proposals to change its rules and procedures on medication and anti-doping for horses. The key aspects include the publication of two clear and definitive lists — one list of banned substances and one list of medication substances. Banned substances are prohibited for use in horses at all times while medication substances are allowed outside competition for welfare reasons but are not allowed while the horse is competing.
There will also be separate rules for dealing with riders who use banned substances and those whose horses are found to have traces of medication substances in their system. Under the new rules, riders who are found to have used banned substances will receive significantly heavier sanctions than in cases where traces of medication substances are found in the horse. These new rules will go before the FEI international assembly in Copenhagen in November.
Our high performance plan for 2009 to 2012 is currently being finalised and will be published shortly. Horse Sport Ireland has very ambitious plans for the Olympic Games in London in 2012. Given the tradition of the horse in Ireland, it is very surprising that we have no Olympic medals for competitive equestrian sport. We aim to put this right.
The London Olympics represent a once in a lifetime opportunity. The climatic conditions will suit our horses and there will be no significant travel burden on them. Geographically, we are ideally located to benefit from the spin-off from London. Ireland is well established internationally as the land of the horse. We have fabulous facilities. Many of those who will travel from the other hemisphere will be based here for transfer to London. We would be very foolish if we did not make the best possible use of that.
The key to succeeding in the Olympics will be the structure we put in place and the quality of the people we have to run it. We have put the very best professional people in place and allow them to make the hard calls that are needed to achieve success. We have made very good progress in the past year. For example, our show jumping team, under team manager Robert Splaine, competes in the Meydan Series, which was formerly the super league. This incorporates the best nations' cups in the world and only the top ten countries in the world are allowed to compete. This year the nations' cup in Dublin, which was extremely well run by the Royal Dublin Society, was selected as the venue for the final round of the series. When competing with the top ten countries in the world in any competitive activity, competition is fierce. We are doing very well but we want to do so on Irish-bred horses.
We won the nations' cup in Sweden, our first win in the series since 2004. Two of our riders, Billy Twomey from Carrigaline in Cork and Denis Lynch from Tipperary, won the grand prix at the legs in St. Gallen and Aachen, respectively. While Cameron Hanley from Mayo finished fourth in the European championships, missing out on a medal by a fraction of a penalty.
One of our pony riders, Kellie Allen from County Meath — the Chairman will be well aware of this — won the individual gold medal at the European pony show jumping championships riding a seven year old purebred Connemara pony — Ballyowen Maybell Molly. Kellie Allen and her team mates won the team silver medal. That is a tremendous achievement against considerable opposition. When competing on a world stage, to bring back gold and silver is a tremendous achievement and they deserve all our compliments.
At the recent world breeding federation for sport horses show jumping championships in Belgium, Captain David O'Brien from the Army equitation school rode Drumiller Lough, an Irish-bred sport horse, to win the silver medal. He was up against 282 starters in the six year old category. This represented the best result for the Irish sport horse studbook since this competition started 15 years ago. The Army equitation school has been a flagship for the Irish horse since it was set up in the 1920s. It has been an outstanding ambassador for Ireland and has competed in the most prestigious arenas worldwide. It flies the Irish flag and supports the development of the Irish horse. I hope sincerely that an bord snip will keep well away from the Army equitation school. It has been established that it costs only €1 million per year. It gives outstanding value for money and not only in arenas worldwide but in support of our €400 million industry countrywide. The Chairman and members are welcome to visit the Army equitation school in the Phoenix Park. It is a fairly well kept secret but it has outstanding facilities. Army personnel would be only too delighted to show the Chairman and members around.
Our riders are making great progress in eventing under the guidance of high performance manager, Ginny Elliot, who has four Olympic medals and who has put an excellent coaching system in place. The Irish team was placed at the renowned international events in Badminton and Barbury Castle and was very unfortunate to miss out on a team medal at this year's European championships.
We were very fortunate that in 2009, one of the best eventing competitions in the world took place in Tattersalls in County Meath where no fewer than eight Olympic medalists competed in an event that was accorded world cup qualifier status by the FEI. What really topped this off was that Patricia Ryan from Cork beat off all comers to win the competition on the Irish sport horse, Fernhill Clover Mist, bred by Matthew Maguire from Gorey, County Wexford. That was a tremendous achievement. If that was not enough, her husband, Michael Ryan from Tipperary, came second. That was in the context of the considerable international competition with eight Olympic medalists competing.
In pony eventing, Joseph O'Brien, a son of the renowned racehorse trainer Aidan O'Brien, won individual bronze at the European eventing championships in Belgium recently. All this shows the potential of this sport to win in international arenas on Irish bred horses.
The support we receive from the Irish Sports Council in this regard is crucial and I acknowledge this on the record. Not only does the Irish Sports Council provide financial support but it also provides professional guidance and support to HSI.
Our aim will be to qualify show jumping, eventing and dressage teams at the London games and to qualify an equestrian team at the Paralympic Games. The first opportunity to achieve qualification is at the world equestrian games which take place next year in Kentucky. If we are provided with sufficient funding and can keep the top professionals in place, we believe we can win Olympic medals in at least two of these disciplines. We can win medals and we are determined to put ourselves in the best possible position to do that. There is a lacuna in equestrian sport where we have such brand leadership worldwide, but still do not have an Olympic medal. While we create success, we do not do so without having regard to animal welfare issues and will be unstinting in our demand that all riders operate within and observe the rules. If they are successful, there must be no concern that anything untoward will be found with regard to medication or anything else.
Aside from high performance, which tends to attract a high profile, the Irish sport horse sector reaches out to many thousands of riders, from five years of age to 55 years of age, who compete week in and out and participate as a hobby or for pleasure. Organisations such as, for example, the Irish Pony Club, the Irish Pony Society, and the Association of Irish Riding Clubs do outstanding work in getting people involved in our sport and the Association of Irish Riding Establishments makes our sport more accessible to all.
I would like to put on record the tremendous and outstanding work done by volunteers. The majority of people involved in equestrian sport are volunteers who give of their time. Those who travel at weekends may have noticed people, parents and others with their horse boxes going to meetings. These are unpaid, but spend all day at these meetings in a voluntary capacity. They deserve our support and appreciation.
Ireland is synonymous with the horse throughout the world. We have an indigenous industry which provides income, employment and pleasure for tens of thousands of people throughout every townland in the country and many more who follow the success of our horses and riders. If we provide strong leadership and Government support, we can drive this sector forward to achieve its undoubted potential.
