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Horse Population Census

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 February 2013

Wednesday, 13 February 2013

Questions (180)

Thomas P. Broughan

Question:

180. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his Department has carried out a census of the overall number of horses here including thoroughbreds in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012; if he will indicate the way the numbers were estimated and if new horse registration arrangements are in operation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7694/13]

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Written answers

My Department has not undertaken a census of horses. As stated in my reply to the Deputy on 22 January, the Central Statistics Office has recently published a Census of Agriculture for 2010, which shows the number of horses in the country returned at 106,020 of which 37,513 were thoroughbred horses and ponies.

However, the most recent estimate of the number of horses in Ireland is provided by a report commissioned by Horse Sport Ireland and conducted by UCD on the economic contribution of the Sport Horse industry to the Irish economy. This report estimated the total horse population in Ireland at approximately 180,000. These figures were compiled using a number of sources, such as Central Statistics Office data, the records of approved horse registration organisations and surveys of a wide range of parties in the industry itself.

EU legislation on the identification of equines, which was transposed into national legislation in 2011 via S.I. No. 357 of 2011, provides that (i) equine animals registered after July 2009 must be identified with a passport and a microchip and (ii) if an equine animal has not been identified within six months of the date of its birth, or by the 31st of December in the year of its birth, whichever date occurs later, it cannot be admitted to the food chain. This legislation was amended in September 2012 ( S.I. 371 of 2012) in order to strengthen the powers of the Minister in relation to approval of an issuing body for equine passports and prosecutions in relation to equine identification and to make it an offence to forge or tamper with an equine passport.

My Department of Agriculture is also developing a central database of horses which will involve migration of selected data from Passport Issuing Organisations to the Department. The database will be populated by information provided from the databases maintained by the Passport Issuing Organisations, by the Department from records obtained at slaughter plants and knackeries and by Local Authority Veterinary Inspectors in respect of records maintained at appropriate slaughter plants. The intention is that this database will be used at abattoirs to verify the authenticity of the passport for the equine presented and to record its date of slaughter.

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