A Government Minister was told that he should "get on a horse and go on a gallop" to provide facilities for young people who own horses in urban areas.
Mr Joe Higgins (Socialist Party, Dublin West) made the suggestion to the Minister of State for Agriculture. Mr Noel Davern, during a debate about the implementation of the Control of Horses Act. The Act deals with wandering horses and obliges owners to be licensed. It also allows local authorities to impound stray horses.
Mr Davern said there were 4,000 horses in the State at which the legislation was aimed. Three thousand horses were in the greater Dublin area with 2,000 in urban parts of Dublin.
Mr Higgins said the Minister should be providing land and facilities to encourage young people involved with horses, because the Act was being implemented "quite rigorously" in deprived areas of the city.
Mr Davern said he would like to take the deputy on a gallop "and we'd see how long you'd last". The Minister accepted what was said but stressed that any moves had to come from the "bottom up". As a member of a local authority, Mr Higgins could direct the manager of the county council to provide land for horse-related projects.
Democratic Left leader Mr Proinsias De Rossa raised the issue. He called on the Minister to amend the legislation to oblige local authorities to provide land for such projects.
Mr Davern said the legislation was primarily a matter for the local authorities but he would provide financial assistance for local authorities so they could support individual projects. The Department is providing £2.75 million for the operation of the legislation.
He said he would contact the Department of Environment about the possibility of providing land but the legislation needed to be fully operational first.
Mr De Rossa said that 10 years ago he proposed a project to provide land for those who owned horses in Ballymun. Dublin Corporation accepted this unanimously but it collapsed because of lack of co-operation from Dublin County Council which owned land that would be affected by the development.
Mr Davern said deputies and everybody interested in these projects should contact their political parties in local authorities.