AN extra €1m was announced for Horse Sport Ireland in Budget 2020 this evening. It brings to €4m the public funds allocated to Horse Sport Ireland under the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

This evening's announcement was made by Minister for State at the Department of Agriculture, Andrew Doyle TD, and is double the €500,000 announced by the Department this time last year for Horse Sport Ireland.

Today's Budget 2020 press briefing document said: "Minister Doyle welcomes the provision of an additional €1m which will bring the 2020 allocation to Horse Sport Ireland to €4m to assist with the strategic development of the sector. This extra funding will assist in providing further breeding incentives for the production of high quality young horses."

Short

However, today's Budget allocation falls far short of the €10m sought by Horse Sport Ireland in their Budget 2020 plan released earlier this summer in which a comprehensive case for more funding to develop the country's €815m Irish sport horse sector was outlined.

Capital grant aid

Minister Michael Creed told The Irish Field that his Department would consider capital grant aid for individual projects such as upgrading the Irish Equine Centre which would start in 2020. He also confirmed that equine businesses affected by a no-deal Brexit, if that came to pass, would be eligible to apply for some of the €650m fund earmarked for that purpose, either through the Department of Agriculture or through the Department of Business and Innovation.

More in this week's The Irish Field on Budget 2020.