asked the Minister for Agriculture if he will state in respect of the years 1954 and 1955 (a) the number of horses exported for slaughter, and (b) the countries to which they were exported; further, what measures, if any, will be taken to prevent the wholesale exporting of some of the finest horses in the country.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Export of Horses for Slaughter.
Exports of horses from this country are not classified according to the purpose for which they are exported. Furthermore this country has no control over the uses to which horses exported from it may be put. Consequently I am not in a position to supply the information asked for by the Deputy in the first part of his question.
As regards the second part of the question I can see no grounds for imposing restrictions such as those envisaged by the Deputy.
I am sure all Deputies have got circulars from people in their constituencies in this connection. I have here 20 such circulars from the people of County Wexford in different walks of life and of different opinions, who wish to have something done to stop the export of horses. In the case of an emergency, we will be solely dependent on foreign oils if this export continues and there will be no horses to plough the land of Ireland. There should be some regulation brought in to compel farmers to keep at least two working horses in case of such an emergency.
The Deputy will bear in mind that it is estimated that two horses will consume the fodder of four cows. If I had the option of encouraging a farmer to keep two horses that he did not want or four cows from which he would derive a profit, I think my advice would lean towards the four cows.
I would like to bring to the Minister's notice that I often see C.I.E. lorries transporting horses to Dublin with their tails tied at one end and their heads tied at the other end. This is cruelty and the Minister ought to stop it.
I can assure the Deputy that every conceivable precaution is taken to ensure that no beast in transit by C.I.E. or by any shipping company is subjected to any cruelty whatsoever. If there comes to the Deputy's attention any individual case which, in his judgment, involves cruelty to horses in transport, I would be personally indebted to him if he would direct my attention to it so that inquiries could be made and effective measures taken to ensure that there should be no recurrence of such an incident. I should add, I think, that there is a great deal of uninformed comment upon this problem. I should be happy to place at the Deputy's disposal at any time the full dossier on this matter so that he can learn for himself the exhaustive nature of the precautions taken by the veterinary staff of my Department to ensure that no live stock, shipped or transhipped in or from the country, is allowed to suffer more than the best possible precautions cannot avoid.
I should like to remind the Deputy that the Queen Mary recently arrived at Southampton with 100 injured persons thereon. According to the propaganda of some of the persons who prepared that literature, those 100 persons should have been slaughtered before they left New York.
Will the Minister indicate if some of our Irish Army horses have been exported? Further, will he state whether it is policy to have all the eggs in one basket in going over to diesel and disposing of our horses?
I am afraid that is a separate question, in relation to the initial stages of which I would refer the Deputy to the Minister for Defence who is primarily concerned with Army horses.