Horse Sport Ireland

Lobbying Organisation Horse Sport Ireland

Date published 21 May, 2026

Relevant Matter Matters involving public funds

Public Policy Area Agriculture

Period 1 Jan, 2026 to 30 Apr, 2026

Specific Details Highlighting the impact of rising fuel costs on the sport horse and equestrian sectors.

Intended results For the sport horse and equestrian sector to be included in any measures or subsidies introduced by the government to ease the burden of the high cost of fuel.

Name of person primarily responsible for lobbying on this activity Denis Duggan

Did any Designated Public Official(DPO) or former Designated Public Official(DPO) carry out lobbying activities on your behalf in relation to this return? You must include yourself, and answer Yes, if you are a current DPO or a DPO at any time in the past. (What is a Designated Public Official?) Yes

Current or Former Designated Public Official(s)

Mike Bray (Currently employed as a DPO) Councillor (Meath County Council)

Did you manage or direct a grassroots campaign? No

Was this lobbying done on behalf of a client? No

Lobbying activity

The following activities occurred for this specific Subject Matter Area.

Email (6-10)

Emails with letters attached were sent to Tánaiste Simon Harris, Ministers Darragh O'Brien, Martin Heydon and Sean Canney.

Informal communication (1)

Denis Duggan spoke with Minister Kevin "Boxer" Moran at the FBD National Hall of Fame Awards on this topic.

Phone call (6-10)

Phone calls were made to ministerial advisers to follow up on the emails sent.

Designated public officials lobbied

The following DPOs were lobbied during this return period on this specific Subject Matter Area. These DPOs were involved in at least one of the Lobbying Activities listed above, but not necessarily all of them. As returns are specific to a Subject Matter Area the above Lobbying Activities may be associated with multiple returns.

Simon Harris Minister (Department of Finance)

Martin Heydon Minister (Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine)

Darragh O'Brien Minister (Department of Transport)

Sean Canney Minister of State (Department of Transport)

Kevin 'Boxer' Moran Minister of State (Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform)

Brian Purcell Adviser to Minister (Department of Agriculture and the Marine)

Barry Cassidy Special Adviser (Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine)

Conor Gallagher Adviser to Minister (Department of Transport)

Siobhan Russell Adviser to Minister (Department of Transport)

Sarah Bardon Chief of Staff (Department of the Taoiseach)

Jack O'Donnell Special Advisor to the Tanaiste (Department of Foreign Affairs)

Niall O'Connor Special Advisor to the Tanaiste (Department of Finance)

Sean Bell Chief Economist (Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine)