THE sport horse industry is worth between £80 million and £100 million annually and employs 12,000 people, a report published at the Kerrygold Horse Show yesterday says.
Announcing details of the report the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Yates, said the sport horse was now a vibrant part of the Irish scene. He added that over 4,000 breeders had registered with the Irish Horse Board and there were 40,000 sport horses in the country.
At the opening of the show, the Minister said Irish breeders could hold their heads high, especially after the Olympics in Atlanta. Two horses ridden by the US gold medal three day eventers in Atlanta had been bred in Ireland, he said.
In addition, other medal winning horses at the games, including Tomboy, which is now based in Brazil, are Irish bred.
It was imperative, he said, that Irish breeders continued to produce quality animals for the international market and a recent initiative by the Department would be helpful in this regard.
"We are proving £50,000 for an inward buyer scheme being run by the Horse Board. This is to pay some of the expenses of foreign buyers coming to buy sport horses here," he said.
The Minister added that under the EU's marketing and processing scheme grant aid would continue to be given to a limited number of regional horse marketing centres.
He said that under the terms of a new scheme to maximise the potential of sport horse breeding and production, there would be a stallion purchase incentive scheme under which a grant of up to £10,000 would be available for the purchase of high quality stallions.