Joe Flaherty
Question:654. Deputy Joe Flaherty asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the average processing time for a foal registration. [59927/21]
View answerTuesday, 7 December 2021
Questions (654)
Written answers
The rules for the identification of equines are governed by commission Regulation (EU) 2016/429, supplemented by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/2035 and Commission Implementing Regulation 2021/963.
Equines are required to be identified with a passport within 12 months of their date of birth, or on permanently leaving the holding of their birth, whichever is the earlier date. Keepers are required to submit completed passport applications to an appropriate PIO within 6 months of an equine's birth to allow sufficient time for the resolution of any issues that may arise.
Equine passports are issued by a number of Passport Issuing Organisations approved by my Department. Each of those organisations manages particular studbooks and issues equine identification documents for equines that meet the eligibility criteria for specific studbooks under their management. Two of these organisations are further approved to issue equine identification documents for equines for breeding and production.
Equines that are entered or are eligible for entry in the main section of a breeding book established by a recognised breed society are referred to as registered equines. Passports issued for registered equines must record verified parentage details of the associated equine on the passport document.
Passports for equines for breeding and production are not required to record verified parental data of the associated equine. Therefore, all required validation is undertaken by the PIO to which the application is made. Such passport applications are generally fully processed within two weeks although in many instances correctly completed applications are processed in as little as three days.
Passports for registered equines must record verified pedigree details of the parents of the equine for which a passport is sought. This requires DNA analysis which must be undertaken at a certified laboratory. Currently, there is only one operation providing this service in Ireland.
Having contacted the various PIOs, the information available to my officials is that, on average, passports for registered equines currently issue within a time period of four - eight weeks. This time frame was longer earlier in the year, following unforeseen technical and supply chain delays experienced by the DNA testing laboratory. Increased demand for passports also added to processing times earlier in the year. These issues have now been resolved.