Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 27 Feb 2003

Vol. 562 No. 3

Written Answers - Control of Horses.

Pat Carey

Question:

96 Mr. Carey asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the funds available to his Department in 2003; the moneys from that fund for the implementation of the Control of Horses Act 1996, which have been drawn down by Dublin City Council in 2003; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5938/03]

Minister for Agriculture and Food (Mr. Walsh)

An amount of €3 million has been included in the 2003 Estimates for my Department to assist local authorities in their implementation of the Control of Horses Act 1996. The following table outlines the grant assistance that has issued since 1 January 2003.

Name of County/City Councils	Issued since1 January, 2003
	€
Dublin City Council	86,326.03
Dún Laoghire/Rathdown County Council	11,728.62
Kerry County Council	54,356.58
Kildare County Council	7,373.45
Limerick County Council	232,434.15
Limerick City Council	118,671.97
Louth County Council	1,400.00
Tipperary (South Riding) County Council	57,268.65
Waterford County Council	27,143.22
Waterford City Council	40,934.66
Total	€637,637.33

As the Deputy will be aware, the Act was introduced to address the problem of wandering horses in rural and urban areas. The Act assigns to local authorities the primary role for dealing with wandering horses and provides for the designation, by local authority by-laws, of control areas in which horses cannot be kept without a licence.