This Bill is intended to replace a similar measure passed by this House in 1934, which was not considered quite satisfactory mainly from the standpoint of administration. The object of the present Bill is to provide that animals will be properly maintained in slaughterhouses while awaiting slaughter and that their slaughter will be carried out in such a manner as to inflict as little pain and suffering as possible. The Bill is to come into force on appointed days to be fixed by the Minister for Local Government and Public Health for its application to Dublin County Borough and Dun Laoghaire Borough and to other urban areas in Saorstát Eireann respectively. Its provisions are to apply to cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, horses, asses and mules. It may be pointed out that the term "slaughterhouse" will include all buildings and other places used for the slaughter of animals for sale or for conversion into products for sale. Exemption is granted, however, in favour of farm buildings or premises which are used only for the occasional slaughter of animals kept on such farm. This is intended to exclude from the operation of the Bill occasional killings of animals carried out by farmers in connection with the management and working of their farms.
The provisions of the Bill are to come into force in every county borough, borough and urban district as from the time appointed, but it may also be applied to any county health district or any portion thereof by Order of the Minister for Local Government and Public Health. On such an Order being made, statutory powers for the regulation of slaughterhouses are conferred on the board of health of the district concerned. If a town administered by town commissioners is situated in such district the powers of the town commissioners for the regulation of slaughterhouses will thereupon pass to the board of health.
It may be pointed out that such powers were originally conferred on town commissioners by the Towns Improvement (Clauses) Act, 1847, and the Towns Improvement (Ireland) Act, 1854, but consequent on the establishment and development of sanitary authorities under the Public Health Acts, the powers of town commissioners in regard to the control of slaughterhouses were not supplemented, and these bodies do not now possess the necessary staff for the efficient exercise of their functions in regard to the regulation of slaughterhouses. It is also contemplated that boards of health will be authorised to make by-laws with respect to the decent and seemly conveyance of meat and the inspection of meat intended for human consumption.
The duty of enforcing this legislation is imposed on the sanitary authority and veterinary officers of each area to which it applies and power is vested in the Minister for Local Government and Public Health to ensure that this duty shall be carried out. Arrangements are made for defraying expenses incurred by the State Departments and by sanitary authorities in connection with the operation of the Act. Wherever the Act is in force, right of entry to any slaughterhouse at all reasonable times or when work is being carried on therein is conferred on members of the Gárda Síochána and on authorised officers of the local sanitary authority for the purpose of ensuring that the terms of the Act are being complied with. The penalty for contravention of by-laws for the regulation of slaughterhouses is to be increased in respect of a continuing offence. The Minister is authorised to hold public inquiries in respect of the exercise of his powers under the Act.
Part II of the Bill requires that a suitable supply of food and water shall be provided for animals in slaughterhouses while awaiting slaughter. It also prohibits the slaughter of any animal in a slaughterhouse in view of any other animal. Unnecessary or avoidable cruelty in the slaughtering of animals is prohibited, and for this purpose it is prescribed that a person slaughtering an animal in a slaughterhouse shall use only an instrument approved by the Minister for Agriculture for the slaughter of that particular class of animal. Exemption from this requirement is granted in respect of the killing of pigs until an Order withdrawing such exemption is made by the Minister for Agriculture.
Arrangements are also made to exclude from the provisions of the Act the killing of animals in accordance with Jewish and Mahommedan ritual, and also where an animal has to be slaughtered to prevent unnecessary pain or suffering to such animal. It is provided that where an offence under this Part of the Act is committed not only the person committing the offence but also the owner or proprietor of the slaughterhouse in which the offence is committed, shall be considered guilty of a contravention of the provisions of the Act.
As the instruments at present utilised for the humane slaughter of animals usually take the form of a pistol discharging a captive bolt or explosive cartridges, it is desirable that the persons using these humane slaughterers should be subject to supervision and control. Part III of the Bill accordingly deals with the licensing of such persons and empowers a sanitary authority to license for that purpose any person over 18 years of age who is resident or employed in their district, provided that he is considered to be a fit and proper person to hold such licence and that he pays the prescribed fee. A licence when issued is valid in any district throughout the country and ordinarily continues in force for a period of one year from the date of issue. Power is granted to each sanitary authority, however, to suspend or revoke slaughter licences issued by them, but right of appeal to a District Court is given to any person who has been refused a slaughter licence or whose licence has been so suspended or revoked. If the holder of a slaughter licnce is convicted of an offence under this Act, the court dealing with the offence may revoke the licence and disqualify the holder from obtaining another licence for a specified period. Penalties are prescribed for the forgery, alteration, misuse or fraudulent transfer of slaughter licences. Power is given to the Minister for Local Government and Public Health to make regulations for various purposes in connection with the issue and registration of slaughter licences and the notification to the sanitary authorities concerned of information as to the issue and revocation of such licences.
The House has already, by passing the Bill of 1933, shown its anxiety to secure that as far as is practicable the slaughter of animals shall be carried out in such a manner as to inflict as little pain and suffering as possible. It is recognised that the slaughter of animals is generally carried out humanely and expeditiously, but there is little doubt that cases occur occasionally where, either through inexperience or carelessness in handling slaughtering implements, much unnecessary pain and suffering is inflicted on animals. In the light of the interest which this House has already shown in this important question, I have no doubt that this Bill will be favourably received by the House.
