Committee Reports::Report No. 01 - Irish National Stud Company, Limited::13 March, 1990::Appendix


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Committee Reports > List of Committees > Joint > 1990 > Committee on Commercial State-Sponsored Bodies (6th Committee) > Report No. 01 - Irish National Stud Company, Limited

APPENDIX B

ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE HORSE BREEDING INDUSTRY

1.The justification for the establishment and maintenance by the State of a national stud is based on the characteristics of the Irish thoroughbred horse breeding industry and its absolute and relative economic significance. The Irish thoroughbred breeding industry comprises about 3,800 breeders owning about 7,000 mares and producing about 4,500 foals per annum. Most of the breeders possess one or two mares which they maintain as an adjunct to general farming. Likewise, about half of all mares are owned by breeders who own four or less mares. (See Table B.1). In this respect, the Irish industry differs to that in some other countries where thoroughbred breeding is concentrated amongst specialists who are mostly well financed.

TABLE B.1

SIZE STRUCTURE OF THE THOROUGHBRED HORSE BREEDING INDUSTRY IN IRELAND

(1987)

	Number of Mares	Number of Studs
	1 - 2	2276
	3 - 4	407
	5 - 10	226
	11 - 20	63
	21 - 30	17
	31 - 40	8
	41 - 50	6
	51 - 60	4
	62 - 70	0
	71 +	4

Source: Weatherbys Ireland

2.However, it would seem that the U.K. industry is not greatly different to that of Ireland. In his survey of the industry in 1978, The Irish Racing and Bloodstock Industry, McCormack reported statistics which suggest that the British industry is at least as “small scale” as the Irish. (See Table B.2).

3.While most Irish breeders are small scale as breeders, they may have substantial other interests. However, there is no socio-economic information available to establish the truth or otherwise of this hypothesis.

TABLE B.2

SIZE STRUCTURE OF BRITISH AND IRISH THOROUGHBRED HORSE BREEDING INDUSTRIES

(1976)

Number of Mares Per Stud	Number and % of Studs
	Ireland		Britain
	No	%	No	%
1	2119	59	4467	69
2	743	21	1021	16
3	265	7	369	6
4	154	4	223	3
5 - 10	241	7	281	4
11 - 20	46	1	61	1
21 - 40	15		14
41 - 50	2
51 - 60	1
60 +	1

Source: The Irish Racing and Bloodstock Industry

McCormack. 1978.

4.There is only very limited statistical information on the income and employment generated in the industry. The CSO publishes estimates of the gross output of horsebreeding in its annual Estimate of Output, Input and Income In Irish Agriculture. This covers all types of horses but as thoroughbreds account for the bulk of the output in value terms (through accounting for less than one third of the total number of horses and ponies) it seems likely that the CSO estimate gives a rough indication of the output of thoroughbred breeding. From Table B.3 it can be seen that gross output of the industry was £77 million in 1988. It can also be seen that the industry suffered a sharp reverse in 1985 and 1986 and that 1987 represented a partial recovery.

TABLE B.3

GROSS OUTPUT OF HORSE BREEDING 1980 - 88

Year	Gross Output (£ml)
1980	21.6
1981	32.7
1982	39.8
1983	55.6
1984	68.9
1985	53.6
1986	46.5
1987	72.0
1988	76.5

Source: CSO Estimate of Output, Input and Income in Irish Agriculture

5.The Killanin Report included the CSO figures in its economic analysis of the industry and also reported the findings of a firm of economic consultants, DKM Limited, that output of the industry was about £85 million in 1984. As can be seen from Table B.3, the DKM figure was significantly higher than the CSO estimate for that year. One major source of uncertainty in the estimate of output of the industry is the valuation of yearlings exported for sale.

6.Estimates of employment in the industry are not collected on a regular basis. However, one estimate was made by the Killanin Commission. According to this estimate, which was based in part on a survey of a number of studs, employment in the industry amounted to 3,900 full time equivalents.

7.Information on the value and volume of trade in thoroughbreds is shown in Table B.4. Substantial net imports took place in a number of years. According to the Killanin Commission, these imports were largely due to foreign owned thoroughbreds entering the country for training and breeding. Since these did not generate offsetting capital outflows, but rather would have generated invisible exports in the form of nomination fees and boarding fees, the trade figures convey a false impression of the impact of the industry on the balance of payments. As noted in paragraph 5 above, there is also the problem of valuing exports of yearlings.

TABLE B.4

IRISH EXTERNAL TRADE IN THOROUGHBRED HORSES 1980 - 89

	Exports		Imports
Year	Number	Value	Number	Value
		(£ml)		(£ml)
1980	2897	13.6	1277	15.4
1981	2734	21.3	1129	19.5
1982	2799	22.7	1531	31.1
1983	2602	31.5	1863	49.2
1984	3090	39.0	2227	75.6
1985	3283	56.2	2238	106.9
1986	3764	80.0	1428	55.3
1987	3755	44.0	1524	53.8
1988	4357	62.2	1600	57.6
1989	4604	57.0	1624	45.1

Source: Irish Trade Statistics