Vol. 534 No. 5
148 Mr. Fleming asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if he will extend the free schemes for people in receipt of the old age pension to include dog licences; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11306/01]
The question of introducing a scheme whereby certain categories of dog owners could obtain a dog licence at a reduced rate has been examined. While it is recognised that a dog can provide both a sense of security and companionship to many elderly people and to people living alone, it would not, unfortunately, be feasible to introduce such a scheme without incurring substantial administrative costs and a loss of revenue to the local authorities, who rely on the revenue from the sale of dog licences to finance their dog control activities. At a practical level also, such a scheme would give rise to difficulties for local authorities in attempting to establish the true ownership of a dog which was covered by a reduced fee licence but which was being kept by a person who was not eligible for such a licence.
