I call Senator Boylan. Is she sharing time?
Animal Health and Welfare (Dogs) Bill 2022: Second Stage
Yes, I am sharing time with Senator Warfield.
Is that agreed? Agreed.
I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."
I am delighted to introduce this legislation on behalf of the Sinn Féin Seanad team. No disrespect to the Minister of State, Senator Hackett, but it is disappointing that the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy McConalogue, is not here. We have heard a lot of bluster in the past week about the importance of animal welfare to the Minister. We have requested a debate on the Oireachtas report produced in October but he has refused to come in to debate that. I appreciate the Minister of State coming in and giving of her time. I know she is a dog lover and look forward to hearing her comments on the legislation.
I have been working on the legislation for over a year. I thank the Office of Parliamentary Legal Advisers, OPLA, for all its support in the drafting. I thank the Dublin Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, DSPCA, and the Irish Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, ISPCA, for their input. They live with the reality of the need for this legislative change. Like the Minister of State, I am a dog lover. I am the proud owner of a rescue dog, Cooper. He is a 15-year-old bichon. He was rescued from a puppy farm, where he as a stud dog, and now his only concern in life is that he has his stuffed pig and a warm sofa to curl up on. That is how it should be for every dog.
It is timely that we are discussing dog welfare as we approach the Christmas holidays. It can never be said enough that if you are thinking of bringing a dog into your family, always adopt, do not shop and never do it at Christmas when there is so much else going on with families and in homes.
The legislation has three elements to it. I will discuss each in detail, but first I thank all of the shelters across the country working at the coalface of dog welfare. They are overwhelmed with the number of dogs being surrendered due to post-Covid regret puppies and many have had to close their doors to accepting more dogs while they struggle to find homes for those already in their care.
As a country, it is time we faced up to the fact that the industrial breeding of dogs and the ease with which someone can buy and then discard a dog has to change. We should all work collectively to do that. Dogs are being bred in poorly socialised conditions and go on to exhibit behavioural problems, which is why many are then surrendered. Owning a dog is a ten- or 15-year commitment,and not something anybody should do on a whim.
This legislation would help to alleviate some of the capacity issues shelters are dealing with by ensuring that dogs seized under the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013 can be rehomed without delay. Section 2 amends section 38 of the 2013 Act to align it with the provisions in the Control of Dogs Act regarding rehoming of dogs that have been seized. Under the provisions of the Control of Dogs Act, a dog that has been seized as a stray or because it is unlicensed can, if unclaimed, be rehomed after five days. However, a dog seized under the Animal Health and Welfare Act must be retained until legal proceedings have concluded or it is voluntarily surrendered by the owner. Seizures under the latter Act include the most horrific cases we see of animal abuse and neglect, the ones that make the headlines. These are dogs left in their own faeces, dogs with urine burns and matted coats or those kept in crates to churn out puppy after puppy. No matter how professional and loving dog shelter staff are, they are no substitute for a loving family home. Shelters are noisy places and dogs can easily become stressed in such an environment, so from an animal welfare perspective, it is vital that once a dog has received any required veterinary care and been adequately assessed, it spends as little time as possible in kennels. Likewise, puppies seized at ports or from illegal puppy farms do not belong in shelters. There is clearly a lacuna in the law. If a dog seized under one law can be homed in five days whereas a dog seized under another needs to wait it out in a shelter for years, it is a lacuna that shows an incoherent approach to animal welfare.
In drafting this legislation, we have allowed for procedural safeguards to address property rights by requiring the oversight of a veterinarian and having regard to the code of practise established under section 25 of the 2013 Act. Apart from the obvious welfare benefits of the quick rehoming of dogs, there are significant savings for the organisations involved.
It was welcome to see increases in the funding for animal welfare in the two most recent budgets and the Government, and in particular the Green Party, should be commended on that, but it is important the funding maximise the welfare of dogs. Preventing organisations from rehoming animals places a significant cost on the welfare organisation and those costs are often unrecoverable, even after prosecution. The passing of this legislation will free up financial resources to help more dogs with those shelters, which are struggling with capacity issues.
A second element of this legislation relates to the tightening-up of the dog licensing system. There has been much talk in recent weeks following the horrific attack on wee Alejandro, to whom we all send our best wishes on his road to recovery. What happened to him should never have happened and it would not have happened if we had enforced the Control of Dogs Act. In recent days, there has been another horrific dog attack, this time resulting in the deaths of 50 sheep. Dog owners have a responsibility to know what their obligations are and to be law abiding when it comes to their pets, but we have good microchipping regulations and good legislation when it comes to the control of dogs. What we do not have is enforcement. There are local authorities that did not issue a single spot fine in 2021. This is simply not a credible deterrent. Every day, we see dogs unmuzzled or fouling on the streets, and we all know there are dogs that are not licensed. During the review of dog welfare legislation carried out by the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, we highlighted the need for microchip databases to be kept up to date and for the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to hold the information in a single online portal. The microchip is such an important part of the jigsaw when it comes to animal welfare and responsible dog ownership. Traceability leads to responsibility. If properly enforced, it will make owners accountable, help prevent the illegal sale of dogs, ensure the reunification of family pets with their owners and, if properly completed, give us a breakdown of the breeds of dogs in the country.
Section 1 will mean that it will no longer be optional to fill in the microchip number on the dog licence form. Currently, the ownership of seized animals is often asserted but rarely proven definitively. Linking the microchip to the dog licence will tighten up the enforceability of obligations on dog owners to prove ownership. It will also make it easier for the local authorities to do their jobs in enforcing the Control of Dogs Act, given they will know which breeds of dogs are in their areas and where they are located.
The Bill will also strengthen the dog licensing laws relates to general dog licences, which are obtained by individuals who keep an undetermined number of dogs on their premises for non-breeding purposes. Again, to collect better quality data on these individuals, a holder of a general dog licence will be required to provide information to the local authority quarterly as to the number of dogs being kept on the premises and their microchip numbers.
There is nothing controversial in the Bill. It is evidence based and the organisations directly impacted by the absence of its provisions are calling for it. There is no reason for it to be delayed. As I have said repeatedly when asked about the Bill, I am not precious about it and I do not want to take ownership of it. In fact, I have repeatedly said on record that the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine should take it, own it and just get it done. Delays mean more dogs delayed in finding their forever home, and more valuable resources being diverted to care for those dogs. I urge the Minister of State not to oppose the Bill, but not to stop there. I ask her to progress it and to allow us in this House to use time co-operatively to get it passed in this House, before using Government time to get it through the Dáil. She could give a commitment not just to expediting it but also to engaging the legal services in the Department to draft amendments to broaden its scope to include equines and other animals. Following the drafting of the legislation, a number of organisations have indicated they have the same problem with equines. In fact, one animal rescue has spent €250,000 caring for 25 horses seized under the Animal Health and Welfare Act, and the owner of those horses is now seeking a judicial review to further delay the transferral of those animals to loving homes. Last week, it was announced to great fanfare that the Minister was carrying out a review of animal welfare legislation. I would like him to know that we on the agriculture committee requested that and conducted it more than a year ago, producing a comprehensive report in October. I recommend, therefore, that he and the Minister of State examine those recommendations and implement them without delay.
As I said, I am not precious about the Bill. I just want to see it enacted because it will have a real-life impact for animals and for those people who work around the clock to give better lives to animals that are being neglected.
I commend my party colleague Senator Boylan on her work on this issue and welcome the Minister of State to the debate.
Overcrowding in Ireland’s dog pounds and shelters is the worst we have seen in a decade. In recent weeks, more than a dozen shelters have announced they have no space for new dogs. On one day alone, five shelters closed their doors. This surge can, in part, be attributed to the increase in the number of post-pandemic surrender requests from people who got pets during the lockdowns. There is a greater need for education and advice for people of the time and financial and emotional commitment involved in owning a dog. Different dogs have different needs in terms of exercise, food and other expenses. It is important for people to clearly understand how the full range of factors, including breed and age, can impact on this commitment.
Many people have often carried out this assessment and nonetheless gone on to buy a dog from a dog breeding establishment in good faith. Unfortunately, many are unaware and ill prepared to deal with the range of behavioural issues associated with such dogs. These behavioural issues are caused by the fact these dogs have been bred on industrial puppy farms, where they are inbred and deprived of human interaction for those important first few weeks. In the long term, how can overcrowding in shelters ever be effectively addressed if the Government continues to refuse to regulate these puppy farms or to end the harmful practices of inbreeding and a lack of socialisation?
As for the long-term use of these shelters, the overcrowding is not a new phenomenon. It cannot be attributed solely to an increase in the number of surrenders following Covid-19. Current legislation means animals are often kept for years before they can even begin to search for their forever home. While we all know the incredible and tireless work undertaken by those who care for animals in this position, it can often result in the animal being less easy to home than it would have been when it first presented. This can be due to a variety of factors including ageing and the associated medical costs and a lack of regular socialisation. Often, the quick resolution of this process is entirely dependent on the willingness of the current owner to engage actively with the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, ISPCA, to surrender the dog. The situation is even more precarious for puppies seized at ports and other points of entry to the island. Just yesterday, we heard the harrowing case of one such dog that had been kept for more than three years. Even apart from the social and other implications for the animal in question, this is an expensive undertaking, as anyone who has ever used a kennel will know.
Turning to the resourcing of animal shelters, the regulation of puppy farms and the prolonged use of shelters may require more long-term resolutions. The Government can also assist shelters in the short term. One way in which it can do this is by providing much-needed financial assistance to shelters. In the programme for Government, it committed to "a doubling of the ex-gratia funding for animal welfare organisations within two years.” Budget 2022, as Senator Boylan mentioned, provided for €3.7 million, a shortfall of €1.17 million on what the Government had initially proposed for this same period.
This is an issue on which there is a consensus among all our parties.
Senator Boylan mentioned that we are not precious about the ownership of the Bill and that we are willing to work with all parties and none to progress the legislation through these Houses. I ask all Members to support us and invite any of our colleagues who believe they may be able to further progress the Bill to do so within their respective parties as well. Let us work together. I welcome the review of all animal welfare legislation that Senator Boylan and the folks on the Oireachtas joint committee have undertaken. Animals are our ancient brothers and sisters - they were here for millennia before we were - and it is only right that we give time and attention to these issues.
I thank the Minister of State for being here for this important discussion. Every so often we see horrendous acts by dogs or unto dogs and this entire topic comes to the fore. It is all over the media and in the papers and then it goes. I genuinely believe that each Department then breathes a sigh of relief that it can sit in the mess for a wee while longer. We have been delaying change for so long.
I think of the most recent case of that poor gorgeous wee boy, Alejandro Miszan, who was savagely attacked by a dog. Unfortunately, he is not alone. Many people are living with the scars of dog attacks. That attack seems to have been the one that broke the camel's back, causing action. It is sad because many of us in this House have been asking for greater dog controls for an awfully long time.
I commend Senator Boylan on her work because she has been steadfast in this area for an awfully long time. This is really important work. I also commend the joint committee, chaired by my Fianna Fáil colleague, Deputy Cahill. It published a great report this year. The Bill is a good starting point. We can go further and be more ambitious, but it fills up a lacuna that has been highlighted and would be remedied by the Bill. It should be implemented.
There are a few glaring issues when looking into dog control and animal welfare or doing any research on the matter. There are three Departments in control of it, which is a huge problem. There is a lack of enforcement, a lack of will on the part of successive Governments to take on sole responsibility, a lack of investment in dog wardens, a lack of cross-Border co-operation, a lack of adequate Garda powers, a lack of databases and a lack of an incentive, either carrot or stick, to purchase a dog licence or to have a dog microchipped or just to be a good citizen and a good, responsible dog owner.
I very much welcome the recent intervention by An Taoiseach to ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to convene the interdepartmental group on dogs. It will consider and review current legislation on dogs across all Departments and look at how local authorities can implement this and be more effective in doing so.
I wish to highlight lots of other issues. Dog owners need to be held responsible for the damage their dogs do. Unfortunately, there is a laissez-faire attitude in that regard. A lack of personal responsibility on the part of dog owners has led to desperate things happening. We must start investing again in dog wardens, hire more of them and make sure they are fully equipped to deal with the new challenges.
We need to streamline and integrate the process of licensing and microchipping. In this era of technology and the online world, I fail to see why we cannot have a national database and an ability to work cross-Border to identify dogs in the Six Counties as well. There needs to be a consequence for not having a licence and not having a dog microchipped.
I commend Louth County Council on what it is doing. It has brought its licensing system online. Our county vet is Garrett Shine. Almost by themselves, not with any extra government resources, the local authorities are working across different counties. Louth County Council has a streamlined process for licensing dogs. Its success came during Covid, when people could go online to licence their dog. Again, however, a microchip, as highlighted this evening , is not a necessity. No one should be able to insure or license a dog or get veterinary services if he or she does not have a microchip. He or she should have to be able to identify his or her dog. Responsible dog owners want that to happen. I would take it a step further. We need dog control notices. An owner in receipt of a series of dog control orders should not be able to get a licence for a dog. If someone is not a responsible dog owner, he or she should not be able to continue getting licences.
Anyone who has ever come across a field of sheep that are after being worried will know that it is the most desperate sight. A couple of years ago I was on our family farm checking our sheep and witnessed dog attacks on animals. It was bloody and awful. Those sheep miscarried and died. That is a basic animal welfare problem right there that we are not looking after - and we are not looking after the dog. It is not the fault of dogs that they are wild animals; it is the owners' fault that they are not taken care of. Accidents can happen, of course, and we will not stop all maiming, all dog attacks and all sheep worrying, but we will reduce them and we will ensure personal responsibility. This Bill is a very important step towards real dog welfare reform and accountability among dog owners.
I commend the Bill. Any of us who read about or heard the story of the young lad who was mauled a number of weeks ago or heard his young brother could not but be touched by what happened. It is important we send our best wishes to young Alejandro. I hope he recovers.
I come from a rural area and a farming community and have spoken to landowners, farmers and so on. I have seen what has happened with dogs going out at night and destroying and mauling young lambs and sheep. It is, therefore, timely that we address this. There is a fairly simple mechanism to this. I will give the House an example. Licences were mentioned. I work in a post office and regularly fill out dog licence applications. There is a space to put in the microchip number, but that is not conditional on printing the licence. I would say 95% of people who apply for a dog licence do not have a microchip number. That is my experience from doing this at home. There is a mechanism here whereby we will be able to control these animals and to identify who owns them, and then we can address these situations if they happen. I will be quite honest. I did not realise that dogs could not be rehomed following situations such as these. That makes sense rather than having the homes full and their not being able to take in other animals while there are families that would be only too willing to take the animals.
This is a very well drafted Bill. The Government should support it. It is not over-complicated. The quarterly return might be a bit much. It would be very difficult to get people to make-----
That is only for general licences, the larger licences.
That makes sense. I apologise. The Bill deserves to be supported. We need to send out a strong signal that we cannot accept what has been going on in the past and that it is up to us as the Government to make the changes that need to be made. The changes proposed in the Bill are fairly simple so I am very supportive of it.
I thank the Minister of State for taking this Bill. I acknowledge the significant work Senator Boylan has put into this. She is an active member of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, along with Senator Lombard. I am also on the committee as are other Senators. One thing I can honestly say about Senator Boylan is that from the very day I met her when she came in here I knew she had genuine concern for and commitment to animal welfare. She has been consistent about it and has consistently raised it at every opportunity at the joint committee. She is a champion of animal welfare and is greatly respected among her colleagues on that team, so much so that a lot of space is provided to her on the committee, she will agree, to advocate for animal welfare.
She brings a vast knowledge and empathy and commitment to the subject. That is clear to anyone who talks to her and from the committee.
I strongly recommend that every Member pick up a copy of this report from October 2022. Senator Boylan was instrumental in pursuing all aspects of this report. It has 13 recommendations which are all very reasonable. I also thank the people the Senator secured to come forward as witnesses. They were very important people who had a significant contribution to make to the debate. They had considerable experience, knowledge and expertise in the area of animal welfare. It is not always easy for members of a committee whose party does not have a majority - we should remember that the Government has a majority on all these committees - but the Senator pursued this matter and secured significant, strong and robust recommendations.
I will share two of the recommendations that jumped out at me today when I read the Bill again. Recommendation No. 2 states:
From the committee’s hearings it became apparent that there are several government bodies involved with different parts of canine welfare related legislation which can lead to confusion over which body is responsible for which part. Three pieces of legislation currently fall under the remit of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine including: Animal Health and Welfare (Sale or Supply of Pet Animals) Regulations 2019; Microchipping of Dogs Regulations 2015; and Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013.
The following two pieces of legislation are currently under the remit of the Department of Rural and Community Development: Dog Breeding Establishments Act 2010, and Control of Dogs Act 1986.
The committee recommends that all five pieces of legislation should fall under the remit of one Department to ensure joined-up thinking and a consistent approach in canine welfare policy.
This is a very significant recommendation and Senator Boylan has made it very clear when advocating for this Bill. The recommendation concludes that "It is the committee’s opinion that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine should have this remit as it is currently responsible for general animal welfare." That is an important recommendation to make.
I found the following startling, frightening and disturbing. Recommendation No. 4 states:
The Committee is also concerned that canine fertility services are being performed illegally by untrained people. The Committee heard that artificial insemination techniques can be evasive and dangerous to a dog. Canine fertility services should be regulated in order to prosecute illegal occurrences of these practises, however, given Surgical Artificial Insemination carries risks even when performed in a controlled, sterile and surgical environment, the committee recommends a complete ban on Surgical Artificial Insemination.
I very much support every aspect of this Bill. It carries on with the same theme of much of the work Senator Boylan had already produced in the committee. The committee wholly endorsed all those recommendations. I hope we can collaborate, which is one of the great things about the Seanad. We do not always need to divide in these Houses. We spoke about Seanad reform the other day and the things we do well. One of those is that we in this House collaborate on general issues. It is not a "them and us" situation. We all share concerns about animal welfare. I know the Minister of State is especially concerned and I am glad she is here taking this legislation.
I will support the Bill, as will my group. We hope its passage will be speedy. In particular, I thank the proposers in Sinn Féin for putting together comprehensive legislation that reads easily but is meaningful. If enacted, it will be very effective animal welfare legislation. I thank all the animal welfare groups that appeared before the committee and shared their stories with us.
I will conclude by saying something about the Minister, Deputy McConalogue. To be fair to him, he has a commitment to animal welfare. Only recently he rolled out additional Government funding for animal welfare charities. However, more is needed. It is not all about money. It is about bedding down in legislation protection for animal welfare. That is the key and will be the success of this legislation. I commend the Bill to the House.
I express my personal support for the Bill and that of the Labour Party. It is very timely and welcome legislation. We have had quite a number of animal welfare discussions in the Seanad over the years and I am sure it will come as no surprise to anyone to hear where I fall on this Bill. I commend Senator Boylan on all her work, not only on this Bill but on animal welfare generally and especially canine welfare. It is a topic that is considered important by many people in Ireland. We consider ourselves animal lovers, yet when any of us goes into a rescue centre we can see how animals have been treated. We see the conditions in which they do their best to look after animals. We hear of the animals that never got to make it to the rescue centre. That holds a mirror up to us and shines a light on the notion that Ireland is a country of animal lovers. It is unfortunate that there are people who give the real animal lovers from all sorts of backgrounds a terrible name. The cruelty that I and all those in the animal rescue centres have witnessed is incomprehensible. It beggars belief that in 2022 we still see stories on the news or shared in our social media timelines weekly or daily of really upsetting animal cruelty.
I commend Senator Boylan and Sinn Féin on introducing this legislation which we hope will tackle some of the issues, outliers and problems in this area. We can always amend Irish law on animal welfare to make it better. There no question but that the Health and Welfare Act 2013 was a significant step forward for animal welfare in Ireland. This positive Bill will hopefully make the Act better and stronger.
When we talk about this topic, part of the challenge is getting people to shift their perception. All is not well in this area. We see the call to "Adopt, don't shop" and various other advertisements, and people buy cards to support the sector, but I still am not sure that people are as switched on to the issue as they could be.
I will reflect on some of the penalties relating to animal welfare breaches. The Bill proposes a significant increase in some of the penalties, for example, it proposes changing the €100 fine "that on summary conviction, to a class B fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months or to both, or (b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding €250,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years, or to both." This section relates more to the abuse of dog licences than animal welfare, which is the issue I am discussing. However, any increase in penalties in the area of dog licensing could and should lead to less mistreatment or abuse of animals. Previous speakers outlined the licensing situation and its impact. I was doing some research earlier on the types of sentences people have been given in the past couple of years for animal mistreatment or cruelty. In 2018, a judge in Ireland gave a suspended sentence for the breach of the Animal Health and Welfare Act because the defendant had been on prescription drugs at the time. The judge said that he was a contributing member of society so it was better if he was not in jail. I am not a particularly big advocate of locking people up in jail with wild abandon but convictions and penalties in this area are lacking. They are poorly enforced. Perhaps that is partly because we rely so much on animal welfare charities, particularly the ISPCA and DSPCA to go out to inspect for animal welfare breaches. Animal welfare charities have received funding of more than €5.8 million.
This is a €2 million increase over the past two years. It is not to be sniffed at, but it is still a small amount considering the €91 million allocated to the Horse and Greyhound Fund. We discussed that fund at length here a couple of weeks ago. I want to put on the record that animal welfare resources are desperately underfunded and rely mostly on charities. We can create laws and regulations, and I hope the Bill gets Government support and is moved along, but without adequate funding, not much is going to change.
According to the ISPCA, it takes €50,000 to keep one inspector on the road. If every penny of that €5 million was invested in inspectors, it would still only give us 116 inspectors. That does not seem to be enough, even if every penny of the money going to all of the charities was invested in inspectors. We are woefully under-resourcing and under-supporting the people who will regulate not all of the areas in the Bill but a number of areas.
We fully support the Bill. I commend Senator Boylan and Sinn Féin on bringing it forward. There is no question in this House about my thoughts on animal welfare, in particular canine welfare. We have a long way to go and I hope the Government will seize this opportunity to use this Bill to move us a little bit closer to where we need to be.
I welcome the Minister of State, Senator Hackett, to a particular seat in the Chamber. It is always good to see her there. She has a keen interest in the subject matter of the Bill.
I commend the Sinn Féin Seanad group on putting together a most worthwhile Bill. The Bill further strengthens provisions in animal health and welfare legislation relating to dogs, in particular re-homed puppies that have been brought into the country illegally and have been seized at ports. At the moment, when dogs are seized by authorities they must be housed in kennels while they wait for defendants to come to trial in court, which can take months or years. This current situation also results in significant costs for welfare organisation such as the DSPCA. It is not always possible to recover costs in court. The Bill also seeks to tighten the enforceability of obligations on dog owners to prove ownership of their dogs by linking the microchip to the dog licence. This will help in court cases where ownership of seized animals is asserted but rarely proven definitively.
It is a good Bill for animal welfare. The Green Party has always been supportive of legislation that supports animal welfare. Green Party policy in this area states that animals have the right, as sentient beings, to be protected from maltreatment and abuse at the hands of humans and to live in accordance with their natural instincts and needs.
The Minister of State has a particular interest in puppy farms and is doing fantastic work in that area. While many good dog breeding establishments exist, unfortunately, many others have poor animal welfare conditions. Stories break every year about illegal dog breeding farms. The puppies which are rescued must be re-homed, which is a considerable cost to organisations such as Dogs Trust and the ISPCA.
We do not have enough dog wardens. Freedom of information requests released to The Irish Times showed that there are 60 full-time dog wardens for 192,348 licensed dogs in Ireland, equating to 3,205 dog per warden. This is not good enough. It is no surprise that dog wardens are overworked and unable to perform their duties efficiently and to the best of their ability in an effective way.
Tougher restricted breed laws will stop dog attacks. Restricted breeds are dog breeds that are aggressive and violent. We all heard about the awful case in Waterford last week, where a boy was attacked by a dog who was off lead in a park. He has suffered life altering injuries and my thoughts and prayers go to him and his family.
There is not enough enforcement of the law relating to illegal dog behaviour. Most counties in Ireland imposed just a few dozen fines between 2018 and 2020, with almost all fines falling within three categories, namely a lack of proper control or fouling. Countrywide, I understand just six fines were imposed in respect of restricted dog breeds legislation for dogs that were not muzzled or were off lead.
In respect of the Bill, which I welcome, it is important to mention at this time of year dogs given as presents at Christmas. Dogs Trust has relaunched its campaign to advise the public not to give puppies as presents for Christmas. Every January, Dogs Trust receive unwanted puppies that need to be re-homed. This comes at a significant cost to the charity.
This is a good Bill. I hope it is supported and we can show co-operation and collaboration across the floor of the Chamber. I wish the Bill a speedy journey on its way through the Upper House. The sooner it is passed the better, with the wisdom of amendments at the appropriate stages. Let us get it into the Dáil and make this happen.
I want to begin by commending Senator Boylan on the Bill. It is well drafted and thought through. It shows the sign of somebody who has been passionate and thoughtfully engaged in issues of animal welfare throughout the time I have known her into Seanad and far beyond that. It is something that would make a significant difference. The Bill contains concrete and practical proposals.
We want to move away from the idea of giving dogs as Christmas presents, but something we can give to dogs would be not only passing the Bill but also committing to constructively giving the Government time to ensure that we can accelerate good ideas and legislation and ensure the Bill moves into law. I hope in her response the Minister of State will commit to that.
I want to highlight some aspects of the Bill that are good and strong. In respect of ownership, it is important that the ownership of dogs is not ambiguous. It has to be subject to proper regulations and conditions. Dogs are not something that can be property in the simplest sense, without proper conditions being attached to that.
The requirements regarding general dog licences in the Bill are strengthened by the provision in section 1 that would ensure general dog licences genuinely match, and can be shown to match, the particular dogs to which they relate. The Bill is not simply about a licence to have a dog, which may or may not refer to a specific dog or to dogs in the abstract. Rather, it is specific. It is a reasonable provision to require that persons who have a dog licence should be able to demonstrate, through the use of a microchip, that the licence pertains to a specific dog. In the case of those with a general dog licence it is even more important because there is a vulnerability. People who have general dog licences for a number of dogs may launder dogs through a single owner without individual licences. That is the kind of thing we see in stud and breeding dogs and puppy farms. If people can have cover-all licences, they can apply at any point if an inspector calls without ensuring proper accountability.
As Senator Boylan mentioned, there are a lot of ancillary benefits to having proper documentation through microchipping, in terms of dog management, being aware of dangerous dog breeds and what kind of dog breeds are in an area. That is useful information to have. In a positive sense, if we have genuine registration of dogs, we can also plan for them in terms of public spaces we want dogs be able to access along with their owners. Development plans and planning for parks and so forth could also reflect the spaces and the prevalence of dogs in a particular area.
In respect of the second very important piece I was, like others, shocked and only learned through Senator Boylan of the fact that where animals are seized under the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013 they are kept in this limbo until legal proceedings have concluded. There is no reason for that given we set conditions, in respect of animal control, which must be met by the purported owner. There is a provision, as inserted in section 2 (4A)(a)(i), that states: "proves ownership of the dog to the satisfaction of the authorised officer". That is a reasonable requirement which meets the property requirements. There is absolutely no issue, from my perspective, in terms of property rights being affected because there is a provision but the onus is placed on the alleged or purported owner to prove their ownership. I think that satisfies the property piece.
We must then ask if there is any other reason one would not allow these dogs to move towards being able to get new and loving homes. It is very important that it is not simply due to evidence. I say that because when there is a raid on a puppy farm the puppies are not evidence but victims. Damage has been done to them so we certainly do not want to continue that and, therefore, it is important that the rehabilitation and care for those who have been damaged by an action should be the priority. In that sense, it is important that we ensure they have access to socialising and forever homes. That is a very sensible provision and precedence has been set in the Control of Dogs Act. Those are the provisions that are mirrored in this Bill. This really is a good proposal and it will make a huge difference by ensuring those who are mistreated do not continue to suffer in this regard.
I welcome the review of animal welfare. We need to have a proper debate on the report on these issues that was compiled by the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine. This House has a record of dealing with these issues. We tabled amendments to the Greyhound Racing Act 2019 that specifically dealt with welfare and the obligation to rehome greyhounds. However, I have been concerned by reports over the past year that Greyhound Racing Ireland has rolled back in terms of the amount it contributes or allocates from its resources to issues of welfare. There have also been questions about not engaging in rehoming projects with welfare organisations that have been critical of the greyhound racing industry. That is very unfortunate because we need all organisations to be supported in terms of these welfare issues. We also need to ensure that we do not have a roll back in the delivery of the obligations under section 29.
I thank the Minister of State for coming in to discuss this all-important issue. We are all concerned and extremely aware of dog welfare and animal welfare.
I wish to follow up on some of the previous points made about control. Wardens are very scarce in some local authorities and, therefore, I am concerned as to whether there is full control. Do wardens follow up on licence to make sure that people obey the law? I understand that a person cannot let one's dog off the lead outside of one's own property so I wonder how many wardens enforce that law. That is one question I would like the Minister of State to consider.
Not every local authority has a dog warden and some have a skeleton warden service. If a big local authority has only one warden then it is very hard to follow up on every single complaint; I am sure that some of the complaints go amiss. I compliment the people who go out there and carry out their job. I also compliment the many volunteers who work with the different animal welfare groups. In my own area of Limerick there are many people involved in animal welfare but there are also private groups that collect abandoned dogs and other animals, particularly around Christmas and at different times of the year. These people bring the animals into their own homes and then try to rehome them. It is a welcome development that we do not see as many dogs being put down as happened in the past or at least there are reports that dogs are not being put down and instead are being rehomed.
What happened to a young boy in County Wexford a few weeks ago and the attack on sheep last week are two really serious issues related to the control of dogs. I understand that microchips are linked back to the breeders although this does not happen in every area. The microchip should be linked to the dog licence, which is a very clear request in Senator Boylan's Bill. If the microchip is linked to the licence then it is linked to the owner of the dog. One regularly sees on Facebook or social media images or notices about different animals that have been abandoned yet the owner cannot be traced because the dog has no microchip. It should made compulsory that every animal is microchipped and the microchip is linked to the licence details. I have highlighted the fact that there is only a skeleton warden service in some local authorities. If people do not have a licence then I wonder who will follow up on matters.
Overall, I welcome that the thrust of the Bill is very positive. The Bill is a step in the right direction in how we deal with animals and animal welfare because none of us wants to see animals being abandoned especially any of us who have our own animals. I am sure that most people feel the same as almost every household has had a dog or other animal at some stage.
I compliment Senator Boylan on bringing forward the different suggestions in the Bill and I would like to see some of them implemented in the future.
I welcome the Minister of State and the general debate that we are having here this evening because it is quite clear that on a cross-party basis there is widespread support for Senator Boylan's Bill. I commend the Senator. As others have already said, she is really passionate and very knowledgeable about animal welfare issues. She has produced a very practical Bill this evening. The challenge for us, and it is a challenge that we have met before, is to unite around a common cause. I appeal to the Minister of State that, when responding, she give a commitment that her Government will facilitate this Bill's quick passage through all Stages in the Seanad. It is a very simple Bill on which we all agree and there are no complicating factors.
As others have said I did not know that when animals are seized in welfare cases they face months and sometimes years in an animal shelter until the case in completed. I do not think that the general public know that and if they did then they would find it entirely unacceptable. I am a passionate dog owner and I hope that my 15-year-old dog, Blossom, has tuned in this evening. If so, she is giving up watching the World Cup semi-final and that is the level of commitment we need to see.
The score is 1:0.
Is it? On a serious note, I believe it is important to recognise, and there has been collective agreement on this point, that we have a real problem with policing and enforcement. I refer to that awful incident with that poor child. My heart goes out to him and his family. We also have to be clear that what we need is enforcement and resources, otherwise new laws are not going to help the situation.
Thanks to Senator Boylan I looked at figures for where I live in Limerick and there are just 2.5 dog wardens for 8,500 dogs. That detail is really telling because last year there were no prosecutions under the Control of Dogs Act and only nine fines, of which five were paid.
I looked at the figures across a range of counties. It is quite clear that there is problem. There were 97 prosecutions in the State, but 74 of those were in one county, namely, Cork. There is a massive problem here. Collectively, we need to ensure that the Government addresses the issues of enforcement and accountability.
I want to speak now on a wider but related issue. When I distributed some publicity material relating to this topic, I got a huge response from the general public, especially from people in Limerick, which is where I live. It was pointed out to me that there is not a single animal welfare inspector in Limerick at the moment. This means that in cases of cruelty to animals, the only recourse is to An Garda Síochána. The reality is that while gardaí are wonderful people, oftentimes they do not have the time and resources to respond to these issues. Simple practical steps need to be taken at local authority level and that needs to be funded by the Government in order to make a real difference in the context of animal cruelty cases.
The legislation we are discussing tidies up an anomaly in existing legislation and will assist animal welfare groups to improve the lives of dogs that are rescued under the Animal Welfare Act and to trace ownership. It is a very worthy Bill that should be pushed through the Houses of the Oireachtas speedily. It is clear that this legislation enjoys cross-party support. All of the contributors to the debate have spoken about the difference it will make in terms of being able to trace a dog licence to an actual dog and the much improved information that will be available to local authorities, including information on the type of dog, as a result of this legislation. This is one of many issues on which we should work together. We should not play politics with it and should work to get this Bill through the Seanad as quickly as possible. The general public would like to see these issues tackled clearly and quickly and thanks to Senator Boylan, we have a Bill to do just that.
I commend the Bill to the House. I also commend Senator Boylan and all of the Senators who have spoken so passionately here this evening.
I apologise for being late but I had to attend a meeting of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine. It is unfortunate that-----
Was the Senator not watching the match?
-----the committee meeting and this debate were scheduled for the same time. I compliment the Senators who sit on the aforementioned committee. They do amazing work. We all bring our own little bit of knowledge to these Houses, but we have a Senator here who brings exceptional knowledge when it comes to the issue before us today, namely, the welfare of dogs. We have had committee hearings on this issue, and it is clear that Senator Boylan's knowledge is exceptional. I chaired some of those meetings. The learning curve for me was steep. I am a bit of country bumpkin and I did not know about half of the stuff that is happening out there. Those hearings were quite graphic in many ways. We heard examples of what is being done to dogs. It is terrible stuff all together.
We really need to tighten up the legislation in this area and this Bill is a very important step in that regard. It addresses some of the issues that came up during the course of the committee's hearings. We should endeavour to move this legislation forward in a timely manner in order to ensure that the regulations that are in place are workable. The regulations that exist at the moment are absolutely bizarre and I do not know how Departments have allowed this to happen. The current regulations are unworkable, but this legislation goes a long way towards sorting out the core issues.
This is also a cultural issue. While it is important that we legislate, we must also inform and educate people. We have all read the reports on recent sheep kills which is another significant issue. I spoke to Senator Kyne about this yesterday. He rightly stated that the advertisements we had in the 1980s about sheep kills must be rerun. We must educate people about what they need to do to control their dogs. That does not form part of this legislation but it must form part of our work for change. The theme of change is important. The situation must change because society wants it to change. As other speakers rightly said, this is a huge issue. The vast majority of households have a pet of some kind. While 99.9% of pet owners take care of their animals appropriately, unfortunately there is a minority that does not do so. That is why we need legislation to make sure that dogs, and all other pets, are treated properly. This important issue must be addressed.
I am disappointed that I missed the start of this debate but I want to lend my support for this Bill. I will do what I can to make sure that this legislation goes through the Houses as quickly as possible. We all have our own skill sets and while this issue does not form part of mine, I have learned a lot in the past eight or nine months. It is important that we try to push this legislation through in order that we get meaningful change on what is a really important issue.
Well said.
Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. Táim sásta go bhfuil sí anseo chun an Bille seo a phlé. Gabhaim comhghairdeas le mo chomhghleacaí, an Seanadóir Boylan, as an mBille a chur os comhair an tSeanaid.
It is great to hear unanimity across the House in support of Senator Boylan's Bill. As Sinn Féin group leader, I want to recognise the dedication, passion and commitment of Senator Boylan to animal welfare. She was determined to ensure that we, as a group, used our Private Member's time to initiate this Bill and get the ball rolling on what is an important issue. As colleagues across the Chamber have acknowledged tonight, there are practical and sensible proposals in this Bill that will have real, tangible benefits and outcomes and that is what matters here. A lot of the time when we talk about legislation the effect of same is abstract or out on the ether but we can see the practicality in this legislation.
One of the great strengths for me, which Senator McGreehan will appreciate, is that in taking the measures provided for in this Bill, we can harmonise our approach, North and South. My pet, a cocker spaniel called Tuan, who is seven years old this month, thanks Senator Boylan for bringing this legislation to the House. In the North, dog licences and microchips are already connected. All dogs kept in the North must be microchipped before they can be licensed. Owners must provide a microchip number on the application form for a dog licence and a dog licence will not be accepted without a microchip number. The number must be registered at the dog owner's current address. Dog owners must hold a valid licence for their dog and the dog must wear an identity tag with the owner's name, address and contact number. We know that it can be done because a few miles up the road, they are doing it and given the nature of Border communities, where we know that some families have plots of land or farms that straddles both sides, it makes sense to do it here too.
While the primary focus of this legislation is on dog welfare, it can be extended to apply to other animals. It can lead to greater protections and accountability for harm caused to other animals such as cattle and livestock, as was referenced earlier. In conclusion, I want to reinforce a message that the Minister of State has heard repeatedly during this debate. Sinn Féin is not precious about this being our Bill; we just want to see it getting done. We want to see it become law because the reality is that every single day that this legislation is not progressed through these Houses, passed and then effectively implemented adds to the waiting time for dogs who are looking for a loving family and a forever home. While we wait, they wait even longer so the sooner we get this done, the sooner those of us who are dog lovers - and there are many of us across the Chamber - get this done, the sooner dogs can be re-homed and sent to forever homes. That is why this Bill makes sense. Ultimately, the outcome of this legislation will be positive which, for me, is the crux of the matter. I appreciate and recognise the support of colleagues across the Chamber tonight. I hope we can take a constructive approach and get this Bill through this House and the Lower House as quickly and efficiently as possible.
I thank and compliment Senator Boylan for initiating this Bill. I compliment the members of the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine for their work on the publication of the report, which contains numerous recommendations and observations that should be progressed over the coming period. I know the Minister is reviewing the guidelines at the moment. In a previous life I served as Minister of State at the Department of Community and Rural Development. We enacted the revised guidelines on dog breeding establishments, which came into effect on 1 January 2019. They were a vast improvement on what was in place previously. Obviously, not everybody was satisfied that they went far enough, but they were certainly a huge improvement in relation to the socialisation of pups, and focused on improving the welfare of dogs and pups. They provided greater clarity on socialisation, placed greater emphasis on the need for accurate record-keeping and contained directions on staff-animal ratios and a provision for unannounced inspections of dog breeding establishments by the local authority veterinary service. Of course, when I talk about establishments I am referring to those that are registered. Are they all registered and regulated? We can see that they are not. Those are the difficult ones that are run by individuals who do not comply with the law and keep breeding animals to sell. As someone who had a rescue dog for a number of years until she passed away, I know the importance of the socialisation of dogs and the difficult backgrounds that many breeding dogs come from. It takes them a period of time to recover from their ordeal and get used to being loved, held, cuddled and everything else we do with dogs. There are legal issues in respect of the ownership of pets. I know that the value of some dogs is quite astronomical. That probably accounts for the difficulties in rehoming them, but that is no excuse. The animals, and particularly puppies, need socialisation and to be with people often to ensure that they have a decent life and also that they can be what they are supposed to be, and not turn feral or whatever. I certainly think the provisions of the Bill are very welcome.
I was contacted by a lady on foot of the tragic case in Wexford. Her mother was killed in 2017 by three presa canario dogs. I will not go into the detail of what happened, but the inquest was held in 2019 and the coroner made recommendations. It was recommended that big muscular dogs should kept in an enclosure at all times, and when in public, should be muzzled and on a chain. The coroner also recommended that anyone who wants to keep such dogs should undergo special training and hold a special licence, and that this specific breed be put on the restricted list. I understand that as of this month, the presa canario breed is now under consideration to be put on the restricted list. However, the dogs are still available to buy. If you google them, you will find them. According to a description on one of the websites I looked up:
Known for their strong guarding instinct, Presa Canarios are considered to be an owner-focused breed that's highly intelligent and trainable. With ample socialization and proper training, the Presa Canario can become a loyal family pet—and model canine citizens.
It is possible that they can become loyal family pets and model canine citizens if they are trained at a young age, but if they are not looked after, they can kill. Dogs of that breed have killed at least one person that we know of, and I am sure there are other cases in this country. The question is how we address that, when the pups are so valuable. They can be purchased online at astronomical prices, and there are individuals who are not always law-abiding or do not care about the law. If these dogs are not loved and socialised, they end up killing people. That is the crux of the matter. If human beings get into the wrong company, they can end up causing harm. Dogs, no matter how good they are, can do damage if they are in the wrong company and do not know what they are doing - herd instinct takes over or whatever. We saw the atrocious images from Moneygall of the 50 hoggets or lambs that were killed. Unfortunately, that is an annual occurrence. There will be such an incident next year again somewhere else in the country or multiple cases at a smaller level; perhaps not as many as that. There is a lot of work to be done in this area and I compliment everyone involved. I hope this Bill can be progressed, and further work done on legislation in this area.
I thank Senator Boylan for bringing forward this legislation. At the outset I should say that the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, intended to take this item. I offered to replace him because the bell has been ringing non-stop in the Dáil and I wanted to facilitate the smooth passage of the debate and look after the welfare of my fellow Senators. That is why he is not here.
It is worth acknowledging that the Seanad, this wonderful Chamber, has discussed issues in relation to animal welfare on many occasions, as mentioned by Senators Hoey and Higgins. It is welcome that we discuss these issues. Like Senator Kyne, I acknowledge the work of the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine in this area, and the input of the Senators on the committee.
I acknowledge the value that dogs bring to homes and families across Ireland. They are fantastic and loyal companions, and valuable friends to many people around the country. I was heartened to hear Senator Boylan tell us about her rescue dog. Indeed, I have two rescue pets at home, who are perhaps watching the football: Penny the whippet and Millie the lurcher. They certainly bring great joy and love to our family. I concur with the wonderful value that dogs, particularly rescue dogs, can bring to people's lives.
It is clear that we need to do more work to strengthen the enforcement of the legislation that is already in place, as Senator McGreehan and others have pointed out. Indeed, the events in Wexford and Moneygall are absolutely horrifying. We have to take every step to ensure the existing policy and the legislation are being implemented and enforced. That has been highlighted by a number of Senators. That is why the Taoiseach has asked my colleague, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to take a leading role in this area and to examine what shortfalls there are regarding issues around the control of dogs, dog welfare, licensing, breeding, microchipping and policing, both nationally and at the local authority level. Perhaps we can learn from our colleagues in Northern Ireland, as Senator Ó Donnghaile highlighted. We should look at reaching out and engaging with them.
Senator Boyhan articulated well the cross-governmental nature of this challenge because the responsibilities for ensuring the welfare of our dogs and other animals lie with three different Departments. First and foremost, my Department is fully committed to promoting responsible pet ownership. The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine has begun that review process. He has tasked senior officials in my Department with scoping out where the responsibility around dog microchipping, welfare and pet sales can link in with a broader framework for a wider interdepartmental effort to improve co-ordination and effectiveness in this area. The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Minister for Rural and Community Development have also been in contact in this regard. As Senator Boyhan highlighted, the Minister for Rural and Community Development holds responsibility for the Control of Dogs Act 1986 and the Dog Breeding Establishments Act 2010, while the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage's Department has responsibility for local authorities, which have a role to play in the area. That highlights further the cross-governmental challenge involved.
In early 2022, the Departments of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and Community and Rural Development launched an awareness campaign highlighting the responsibility to dog owners in relation to dog control and sheep worrying.
Last year the Department launched Ireland's first national animal welfare strategy, Working Together for Animal Welfare: Ireland’s Animal Welfare Strategy 2021-2025. This strategy sets out broad principles as to how we will improve animal welfare in Ireland over the coming years. It will be relevant to the review the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Charlie McConalogue, will lead in the coming weeks. One of the commitments in my Department's animal welfare strategy is to establish an advisory council on companion animal welfare. That council is now up and running with independent members with a range of expertise and experience having been appointed. The council has met on several occasions this year. It will advise on policy matters and, where appropriate, will issue guidelines and recommendations in relation to companion animals, including on some of the issues under discussion here this evening. The council is scheduled to meet again tomorrow. The Minister, Deputy McConalogue, and I look forward to receiving the group's recommendations.
My Department has primary responsibility for the Microchipping of Dogs Regulations 2015. Data received on compliance is encouraging. According to the latest figures available, 124,408 dog microchips were registered during 2020. This represents a 24% increase on the total number of dog microchip registrations in 2019.
On the safe sale and supply of dogs, my Department has introduced SI 681/2019, which requires anyone selling or supplying pets to keep records, including a record of from whom the pet was obtained, and to whom the pet was sold or supplied. These regulations also prohibit the advertisement of a dog for sale or supply without providing minimum information about the seller, origin and age of the dog, and its microchip number. This applies to all forms of advertising. Unfortunately, the reality is that not all dog owners act responsibly. It certainly does happen, unfortunately, that some dogs are often kept in conditions without adequate space, exercise, or socialisation, as has been highlighted tonight. This can lead to problems with temperament. The knock-on effect of this is that it creates a welfare problem, not only for the dogs concerned but possibly a risk then to other animals and perhaps to people, if the poor treatment and management of these dogs leads to aggression.
My colleague, Senator Vincent Martin highlighted the Green Party's long record in supporting stronger animal welfare legislation. What was clear from tonight's debate is that we do have some good strong legislation. We have good laws but it is about the enforcement of those laws. This is something we really need to focus on in the months and years ahead. For this reason, one of the priorities for my Department in working with the Advisory Council on Companion Animal Welfare is to develop and promote a responsible pet ownership campaign. Responsible pet ownership is about educating people on what they need to consider before deciding whether to get a dog or a cat, or any pet animal: how to keep and manage a dog, which is the topic tonight; how to manage a dog appropriately; breeding healthy dogs with the right characteristics and healthy confirmations; and the responsibilities of dog owners towards others, particularly in relation to issues such as aggression and sheep worrying.
The Bill before the House today has several recommendations that are of merit, and many aspects are already being examined by my officials internally. Department officials have also engaged with stakeholders and dog welfare charities on many of these issues, including those relating to the welfare of dogs. In early January 2023, the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, will meet with the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, and officials from both Departments where both Ministers and sets of officials will bring their internal findings together to progress this matter with the urgency it needs and deserves.
The co-operation of the authorised officers from the Irish Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Dublin Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, with An Garda Síochána and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, is recognised and deeply appreciated. I have full confidence that this cross-governmental approach will lead to definitive action to improve the situation without delay.
I reassure Senator Warfield that we have doubled the funding to animal welfare organisations as per our programme for Government commitment. That was finalised last week and it is most welcome. It is only one element in dealing with this and improving the welfare of animals in this country, but it is welcome all the same. I thank all of the Senators. I thank Senator Boylan for bringing forward legislation and Senators for their continued interest and engagement on this topic.
I will not delay people any longer because it is one of those nice moments when we are in agreement. I thank the Minister of State for her comments. I am heartened to hear of the work that is going on and that the elements of this Bill are under consideration by the relevant Departments.
I would caution about the information on microchip compliance. While we know that the law states one must have a dog microchipped, the problem is that a lot of people are not aware of the need to update that information. While we heard from Senator Byrne about the obligation of this staying with the breeders, it is the breeders' obligation to re-register that in the owner. Members of the public are not aware either of the need to update the information if the animal dies. There is a simple example from Australia where a person gets a yearly text message from the database the microchip is registered with, just to ask if any information needs to be updated about the dog. There are simple ideas out there we can adopt. As Senator Ó Donnghaile has said, we only have to look up the road to show how effective it can be to link the microchip to the licence.
I will not labour the point any more other than to commend this report. I ask that people who have not already read it do so. I thank all Members for their comments tonight and for their generous comments about my own work. I extend a special thanks to the members of the Oireachtas Joint committee on Agriculture, Food and Marine. Senator Lombard might be a country bumpkin but I am a Dub and the only woman on the agriculture committee. Agriculture and fishing are huge areas of policy and a lot of work gets done on the committee. In fairness, when I came to that committee and said that we also had responsibility around animal health and welfare, including canine welfare, all of the members of that committee facilitated the hearings and the extensive work that was done. We worked together. Everybody participated in those hearings and co-operatively we produced that robust report. It again shows how important it is that on certain issues we can put politics aside when we all have a single purpose, and we can actually produce really good work.
I take great heart from the debate tonight. As I have said, we just want to see this legislation enacted. The Minister of State has said that the area is under review. Because there are so many areas that need tightening up I fear it could delay this legislation further. This Bill can make a change overnight; it is not complicated and it is not controversial. I encourage the Minister of State to maybe expedite this legislation while that review work is ongoing.
Question put and agreed to.
When is it proposed to take Committee Stage?
Next Tuesday.
Committee Stage ordered for Tuesday, 20 December 2022.
Cuireadh an Seanad ar athló ar 8.08 p.m. go dtí 9.30 a.m., Déardaoin, an 15 Nollaig 2022.
The Seanad adjourned at 8.08 p.m. until 9.30 a.m. on Thursday, 15 December 2022.