I move:
That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to prohibit the granting by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine of licences for the purpose of hare coursing and to afford the hare species the full protection of the Wildlife Act 1976.
I am very grateful that the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, is here for this. When I was around six or seven, I remember driving by the Wexford racecourse on St. Stephen’s Day with my father. Several people were gathered outside with placards. I remember asking him what was going on and at that point he explained hare coursing to me. I was horrified. I could not understand why anybody would ever want to subject another animal to something that horrific and barbaric. I am very proud today to be introducing the Protection of Hares Bill. I am proud for the seven-year-old me and I know my dad would also be proud. I find it bizarre, frustrating and unbelievable that this practice is still allowed 40 years later and is still facilitated by Government when the majority of other countries have banned it because they recognise how awful and unacceptable it is. No civilised society should ever treat another animal in this way.
The timing of this Bill is really important because it is Biodiversity Week. When we talk about hare coursing, it is often forgotten that the hare is a protected species. The Wildlife Act has deemed it protected species and not many species in Ireland have that status. We have badger, bat, deer, hare, hedgehog, otter, pine marten and red squirrel. However, the same legislation that deems the hare protected because of its importance environmentally and culturally in Ireland, allows the Minister to sign off on licenses for the capture and holding of these hares for the purposes of live hare coursing. I regard that as a direct conflict within the legislation. If a species is protected it should be protected and should not be subject to that level of stress and torment.
The Bill I am introducing removes the ability of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to issue licences for the capture of hares. This will provide the hare species with the full protection of the Wildlife Act, as it should be.
Each year the Minister of State or his counterpart signs off on of the capture of 6,000 hares, which is an enormous number. In every report that comes out, we hear about how our biodiversity and nature are being absolutely decimated.
The first role of the Government when it comes to biodiversity, and the first role of the Minister of State, is to do no harm. They must not impact on the nature we already have. Unfortunately, that is not happening here. During Biodiversity Week, we see a lot of great events and initiatives and we ask people to do a lot. We ask everybody to do their bit. We ask each house, school and business to please do their bit for our nature and our wildlife. Today, I am doing my bit for wildlife by bringing this Bill forward. I am asking Deputy Noonan, as the Minister of State who is responsible for heritage, to please do his bit. This is something within his control. I ask him to please do his bit and stop the capture of these hares. It is unacceptable in this day and age, in this biodiversity crisis. It should never be facilitated by any government.
I acknowledge the previous work of former Deputies in this House, Trevor Sargent and Maureen O'Sullivan, and, indeed, that of current Deputy Paul Murphy in bringing forward similar Bills. I hope that some day we will not have to be bringing these Bills forward. However, I cannot see that happening any time soon, despite 77% of Irish people not wanting this to happen and wanting it banned. Unfortunately, the people who tend to sit on those seats in government listen to a very small vocal minority of people who are continually lobbying to allow this barbaric practice to continue. One day I hope we can end that once and for all.
Before I finish, I want to thank Ellen Murphy in my office and those in the Bills Office for their help with this.
