HORSE Sport Ireland (HSI) has issued 327 foal passports in the last four weeks. This is despite promising to issue more than double this figure in the two weeks following October 4th. Of the 5,630 applications for foal passports made via the new HorseSource system since July, 927 (16%) have been issued.

When asked how many passports will be issued per month going forward, HSI said: “DNA samples for 915 applications came back in recent days, and all these passports should be posted within the next one to two weeks. So that’s 915 passports going out in a two-week period, and the aim is to process similar numbers over similar timelines as we go forward, depending on the receipt of DNA samples back from the laboratory.”