36. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views on a matter (details supplied). [52272/26]

The health of privately owned horses is the responsibility of the owner. The State may have a role in the health of privately owned horses if there is a diagnosis of a disease agent which is subject to legislative control, or if there is a clear and significant risk to either the wider horse population, or to human health.

There has been significant engagement by my Department with this long-running issue over several decades.

Over the years, my Department has

• Considered several substantial files of historic laboratory reports presented by the owner and arranged for this evidence to be reviewed by equine veterinary specialists within my Department.

• Carried out a review summarising the clinical experience of private veterinary practitioners who provided care to these horses – this review was carried out by a veterinary research officer who contacted and interviewed as many of the veterinary practices as possible who provided veterinary services to the owner’s horses in recent decades.

• Commissioned and funded an intensive clinical study which was conducted by UCD's Equine Veterinary Hospital under the guidance of an expert panel drawn from my Department's Laboratory Service and the Irish Equine Centre. This included an extensive clinical investigation for an entire grazing season in 2016.

These exhaustive interventions did not identify any particular clinical syndrome affecting the owner’s horses in any way, or any specific pathogen or pathological finding that would explain the concerns raised, in addition, no significant risk to the wider equine population or to public health was identified.

It is not clear what two laboratory findings are referred to by the Deputy, however In 2023, my Department facilitated a review by two European-board certified equine specialists and a European-board certified pathologist into the cases. Commonly encountered minor changes and variations in blood parameters were noted. These were not judged to be clinically significant.

Given the extensive engagement by my Department in relation to this matter and that fact that no disease agent subject to legal control, along with no identified risk to the wider equine population, or to public health there is no further role for my Department in this matter. I recommend that the owner engages closely with their private veterinary practitioner regarding any investigation that they wish to carry out into the health and performance of their horses