As the Deputy may be aware, legislation required both parties to confirm the change in ownership of an equine prior to 26/04/2016, in practice this system was difficult to implement and there were challenges in ensuring compliance. In order to ensure more effective implentation and streamline this process, in consultation with stakeholders a revised arrangement was introduced by S.I. 201/2016 - Equidae (change of ownership) Regulations 2016, in order to record thd transfer of ownership of Equidae.
While there are no immediate plans to change the current legislation on identification of equines, my Department's policy is to regularly review existing legislation with a view to improvement and evolution as sysyems bed down.