Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve co-operation with the Northern Ireland Executive and government of Ireland in order to facilitate movement of equine animals between their respective areas, and improve processes for their registration.

The Government recognises the importance of the equine sector to the UK economy. The majority of equine movements into and out of Great Britain take place with the island of Ireland, so we regularly engage with the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland and the Department for Agriculture, Food and the Marine in the Republic of Ireland.