Horse Sport Ireland Announces Revised High Performance Levy Following Athlete Feedback – Levy Reduced by 25%

Horse Sport Ireland (HSI) has revised its planned 2025 High Performance (HP) levy, following feedback from athletes and stakeholders over recent days.

The organisation has reaffirmed its commitment to maintaining a stable, transparent and sustainable funding model for Ireland’s High Performance programmes, in line with Sport Ireland investment requirements.

The revision has reduced the cost of the new levy by 25%.

Part of the new High Performance levy was originally designed to have been ring fenced to fund entries into Nations Cup events, as some athletes had previously expressed a desire for HSI to fund this activity directly.

However, since the new model was launched last week, HSI has received significant feedback from athletes in relation to how certain costs such as Nations Cup entry fees, should be treated.

In response to this athlete feedback, Horse Sport Ireland today confirms that it is amending the HP Levy as follows:

Revised Levy Reflecting Athlete Feedback

· €36.50 ex VAT (€45 inc VAT)

· HSI will not fund Nations Cup entry fees, with these costs instead covered directly by owners, or by athletes as is currently the case.

· Maintains compliance with Sport Ireland’s funding criteria while reducing the cost HP Levy cost to athletes.

“We have listened carefully to the concerns expressed by athletes and stakeholders in the past few days and have reduced the High Performance levy by 25%,” said Horse Sport Ireland Chief Executive Denis Duggan. The amended option reflects both the needs of the athletes to have a lower levy amount and the financial realities of running a High Performance programme.”

Following the Tokyo Olympic cycle, Sport Ireland advised Horse Sport Ireland that a more secure funding model was essential to ensure continued investment in equestrian High

Performance sport. A key requirement of Sport Ireland’s 2025 investment framework is that national governing bodies generate 20% of High Performance funding from within the sport itself, ensuring long-term financial stability and reducing reliance on unpredictable external contributions. This levy ensures this funding.

HSI has decided to apply the new levy for two key reasons. Firstly, and as stated above, the sport itself needs to partly fund its High Performance programmes in order to unlock the required funding from the State. Secondly, the current model, which relies on key affiliates contributing a fixed annual amount for High Performance equestrian sport in Ireland is broken, as these affiliates have stopped remitting the necessary funds to HSI.

To note, Showjumping Ireland (SJI) historically contributed €100,000 annually from its “International Fund” levy. No contribution has been remitted for 2023, 2024 or 2025, resulting in €300,000 in unpaid funds. This is despite SJI continuing to deduct its International Fund levy, a sliding scale of 10% to 5% applied to prize money across competitions, as outlined in its own rule book.

Dressage Ireland (DI) traditionally contributed €25,000 annually, and €50,000 in an Olympic year. No contribution was made in 2024, despite it being an Olympic cycle, further demonstrating the unreliability of the affiliate contribution model. Eventing Ireland have contributed up to 2024, and Eventing Ireland have advised HSI they do not have “financial or operational resources” to undertake a HP owners programme in lieu of a direct financial contribution to HSI.

Due to the inconsistency and uncertainty of contributions from the Affiliates, Horse Sport Ireland cannot allow the State investment to be lost as it would put the entire Olympic Equestrian programme in doubt.

In this context, the new High Performance levy is a necessary tool and was developed as a straightforward and transparent mechanism to secure the funding necessary to run elite programmes and support Irish athletes competing internationally. It ensures that elite programmes are not reliant on external levies and supports the long-term sustainability of Irish equestrian sport at the highest level. The High Performance levy cannot be reduced below €36.50 ex VAT, as doing so would fail to meet Sport Ireland’s minimum requirement for internally generated funding. Falling below this threshold would place all High Performance investment at risk and would undermine Ireland’s ability to plan and deliver programmes across the Olympic cycle. All funds raised from the HP Levy go directly into the High Performance Programme.

In accordance with the new constitution, Horse Sport Ireland has an advisory forum structure in which issues such as this can be discussed in advance. Regrettably, Show Jumping Ireland and Dressage Ireland have decided not to participate in the High Performance Forum for the past two years.

“At Horse Sport Ireland, we recognize the importance of collaboration and open dialogue with all our stakeholders. While we understand that the proposed levy may not be welcomed by everyone, it is a necessary step to ensure the financial sustainability to provide the continued support to High Performance in Equestrian sport. As we move into the New Year, I am looking forward to engaging with the Affiliates and other key stakeholders to foster constructive discussions and build stronger, long-term relationships within the sector”, said Interim Chair of Horse Sport Ireland Dr. Pamela Byrne.

Dr. Byrne added that “after years of uncertainty regarding funding for High Performance, it is crucial for us to take proactive measures to secure the Sport Ireland investment. We are committed to ensuring that our approach creates a reliable and sustainable income stream for High Performance programmes, ultimately benefiting the sport as a whole”.

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