Public Consultation on equine traceability

Improving equine traceability has been a priority for the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) over the last number of years and incremental improvements have been made, including the introduction of an equine census and online microchip checker.

Following the broadcast of the RTE Investigates documentary on horses in June 2024 highlighting issues with equine traceability, the Department asked Professor Patrick Wall to undertake a root and branch review of the whole traceability system.

The scope of the review included all aspects relating to identification, registration and traceability of equines in Ireland with a view to enhancing the integrity and security of the overall system. Professor Wall engaged with stakeholders across the whole equine sector and proposed several wide-ranging recommendations.

Professor Wall’s report was published on the 20th of March along with an action plan, both of which can be viewed at www.equineid.ie

The purpose of this consultation is to gather ideas on how best to deliver the recommendations of Professor Wall’s report, as we aim to create a sustainable and effective equine traceability system. The engagement of key stakeholders and the wider public will be critical to the successful development, finalisation and implementation of this system.

We are inviting any interested individuals, groups, or organisations to share their views on equine traceability in Ireland by completing the online survey available at this link:

Equine Traceability

It should only take 10-15 minutes to complete.

The survey is hosted on EUSurvey, a survey platform that is supported by the European Commission. Please use Chrome/Edge/Safari/Firefox browsers to complete the online survey. You will have an opportunity to expand on any issues of particular concern to you in the last question.

Should you prefer to email us please forward your views to HorseID@agriculture.gov.ie

The Closing Date for the survey is: 8th of September 2025 at 5pm.

The information provided by respondents will inform the development of a national equine traceability system.

All submissions and comments submitted to the Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine for this purpose are subject to release under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2014 and the European Communities (Access to Information on the Environment) Regulations 2007- 2014. Submissions are also subject to Data Protection legislation. Personal, confidential or commercially sensitive information should not be included in your submission, and it will be presumed that all information contained in your submission is releasable under the Freedom of Information Act 2014.