THE Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon, did confirm the annual funding for the sport horse sector remains in place but could not give any exact figures when announcing Budget 2027 this week.

A spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) told The Irish Field: “The Sport Horse National breeding service (NBS) and the marketing service are currently being delivered under contract by Horse Sport Ireland and the Irish Horse Board, respectively. These contracts will expire on December 31st 2026 and provision of these services commencing January 2027 are currently the subject of a public procurement competition. The allocation for these services will depend, inter alia, on any contractual arrangements and, accordingly, the exact [funding] allocation is not available.”

The 2026 allocation was €4.4 million (€1.5 million operational ex VAT, plus €2.9 million in breeding initiatives) for the National Breeding Services delivered by HSI, and €800,000 for the marketing services delivered by the Irish Horse Board.

The Department confirmed that allocation for the Equine Technical Support (ETS) Scheme in 2027 is being finalised. The scheme aims to enhance the quality of equine breeding and support the development of Ireland’s equine industry through targeted financial assistance. There are three programmes within the scheme: General, Education and Training and Research into Equine Diseases, with a total of €854,000 available to fund a variety of projects in 2026.

At a briefing at Government buildings on Wednesday, Minister Heydon told The Irish Field: “The sport horse sector is funded through a public tendering process. Obviously Horse Sport Ireland is in examinership right now, so we will let that core process continue to play out there, but the allocation of the funding towards the sport horse sector continues to be there for the marketing element and the breeding grants, which are very extensive from my department.”

Minister Heydon also announced an additional €8.4 million to support a wide-ranging animal health and welfare package.

“This funding will cover a range of schemes to support animal health and welfare. Animal welfare is a key priority - be it farm or companion animals. I will shortly be launching a new Animal Welfare Strategy for the period 2026-2030.”

Horse Racing Ireland was granted an additional €2.3 million for 2027, with their overall funding rising from €79.3 million to €81.6 million next year.