Up to £22 million will be invested in the horse industry under the National Development Plan, according to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, Mr Walsh.
Speaking at the launch of the plan at the Racing Academy and Centre of Education (RACE) in Kildare today, the Minister said the funding would help maximise the potential of horse breeding as a viable supplementary farming enterprise.
The money will be invested in capital and stock investment, research and development, marketing and promotion and human resource development.
The schemes available will include grants for the purchase of quality stallions, a stallion performance-testing programme and a quality mare selection scheme.
Grants are also being provided for the building of a farrier school at RACE, research into equine diseases and the development of a database for the horse industry.
The database will have information on breeding, sales, the performance of exported horses abroad and employment in the equine sector.