Written Answers Nos. 33 to 36
33. Deputy Michelle Mulherin asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the amount per student Teagasc is spending on agricultural training and education in its own agricultural colleges compared to such training and education it is delivering through private agricultural colleges; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42799/14]
View answerThis is an operational matter for Teagasc who have statutory responsibility for the delivery of education and training programmes to the agriculture sector. In the region of 3,700 learners participated in Teagasc further education provision and higher education linked provision in 2013. Typically, over two-thirds of these learners attend the seven colleges in the Teagasc network with the balance attending part-time and distance programmes at 12 Regional Education Centres. The seven colleges comprise four Teagasc owned colleges and three private run colleges located in Mountbellew, Pallaskenry and Gurteen who deliver education courses on behalf of Teagasc.
Teagasc is also a significant provider of specialised short courses to adult farmers and agri- industry covering a wide subject area including agri-environment, farm safety, milk quality, food safety, organic farming etc. Typically, in excess of 5,000 adult farmers and industry personnel participate in short term training programmes annually. In addition over 13,000 adult farmers engage in continuous professional development through the Teagasc national farmer discussion group network.
I am advised by Teagasc that the overall average net cost to the state of education provision per college based student FTE (inclusive of further and higher education FTE’s) for the 2013/14 academic year was €6,479. The average net cost per student FTE for the three private colleges was €5,067 for the same period. Teagasc further advise that the costs are not fully comparable in that the Teagasc owned colleges have significant involvement in Teagasc research and knowledge transfer activities.
I understand that the cost per student FTE across the Teagasc network of colleges has shown a significant downward trend over recent years. The average cost prior to 2009 was circa €12,000.
Teagasc continues to closely monitor delivery of education programmes. A range of quantitative and qualitative indicators are in place to assess performance and impact. They recently, for example, introduced a Whole College Evaluation system to further strengthen the evaluation process. It focuses on the quality of the management and teaching and is independently carried out by the Inspectorate of the Department of Education and Skills with an external peer evaluator input.
34. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views regarding the amount of prosecutions for animal cruelty under the Animal Health and Welfare Act; his plans to improve the situation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42807/14]
View answerThe Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013 is a significant piece of legislation replacing a wide range of acts relating to animal health and welfare dating back over a century. The Act places specific requirements on animal keepers to care for animals rather than merely avoid cruelty. Its main elements were commenced with effect from 6 March 2014 and on the same day, a series of regulations and orders were made relating to different aspects of the Act. Since its commencement a number of files have been prepared for alleged offences under the Act, ranging from cruelty to dogs, failure to comply with animal health and welfare notices and failure to protect for the welfare of cattle, horses, sheep and pigs. To date there has been one successful prosecution. Of the remaining files some are with the Chief State Solicitor for the institution of prosecutions while others are being progressed by An Garda Síochána and/or under consideration with my Department’s legal officers. Prior to the introduction of the Animal Health & Welfare Act 2013, the main statutes governing cruelty to animals was the Protection of Animals Act, 1911 and Protection of Animals (amendment) Act, 1965 and responsibility for pursuing complaints under that legislation rested with An Garda Síochána. Cases are ongoing in this regard and prosecutions are pending before the Courts in this context.
I consider training of and the provision of information to stakeholders to be an integral part of bringing any Act of the Oireachtas into operation, particularly since, in the case of the Animal Health and Welfare Act, there are provisions for officers from some non-governmental organisations to be authorised for certain specified functions under the Act. There must be confidence that powers will be used in a professional manner by officers with appropriate skills and training. To date my Department has organised seminars relating to the application of the Act for authorised officers from my Department and from some NGOs and members of An Garda Síochána. Further training seminars are planned for the future.
I would urge members of the public to continue to report incidents of animal cruelty to my Department’s animal welfare helpline at 0761 0644 08 (call save).
35. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views on the ongoing dispute between beef farmers and processors; the progress being made since the last meeting of the beef roundtable; the issues he plans to address at the next meeting of the beef roundtable; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43011/14]
View answerThe next meeting of the Beef RoundTable, which I will chair this evening, will receive an update by Michael Dowling on progress in bilateral discussions between processors and farmers. As I have informed the house already today, the need for continued dialogue between farmers and processors is vital to overcoming the current impasse on market specifications and getting the sector back to producing high quality animals for high end markets throughout Europe and beyond. I hope that progress can be made on these issues today. The meeting will also conce ntrate on the next steps in bringing the concept of Producer Organisations to reality. As the Deputy will be aware, the potential for Producer Organisations was identified in the report I had asked Michael Dowling to draft and present to the second meeting of the Beef RoundTable. A public consultation on this issue has since concluded and the responses have been very positive. There is clearly an appetite for Producer Organisations across the beef sector in Ireland and this was confirmed by the last meeting of the Roundtable two weeks ago. At the meeting this evening, I will update stakeholders on the detail of the responses received during the consultation process and explore next steps with all concerned. I strongly believe that Producer Organisations can provide the missing ingredient in the beef supply chain and help provide a better balance to negotiations on price.
The Beef RoundTable is, of course, focusing on a wide range of issues related to the medium to long term strategic development of the sector, and not just the narrow question of market specifications. Improved transparency in the sector has been a key demand from stakeholders and this is being addressed through the new Beef Pricewatch App developed by my Department. The App presents a range of up to date price information in a user-friendly fashion and is available free of charge to farmers and others interested in this information. The feedback from the users to date has been very positive and my Department is already looking at additional functionality for the App. The Roundtable has also proved the catalyst for enhanced engagement between the various agencies in the sector, including as regards the establishment of a technical group to look at specific strategies to improve suckler cow fertility, in order to improve the economic return for farmers.
All of this strategic work is in addition to the substantial investment in the beef sector through the €4 billion draft Rural Development Programme and the €74 million package I announced as part of budget 2015. I can assure the deputy that the Government will continue to address the needs of the sector, both through the development of strategic initiatives and the provision of financial supports as required.
36. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine in view of the fact that hare coursing is now a criminal offence in Britain, Northern Ireland and much of Europe, if it is time to make this barbaric so called sport a practice of the past, follow in the footsteps of Australia by replacing live hare coursing with drag coursing to ensure no loss of jobs in the industry; if he acknowledges the extent of injuries to hares and greyhounds to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40058/14]
View answerUnder the provisions of the Greyhound Industry Act, 1958, the regulation of coursing is chiefly a matter for the Irish Coursing Club (ICC) subject to the general control and direction of Bord na gCon (BnG). The welfare of greyhounds involved in coursing is provided for in the Welfare of Greyhounds Act 2011 which inter alia requires that persons who course greyhounds must have regard to the “Code of Practice in the Care & Welfare of the Greyhound”, developed jointly by the ICC and BnG.
The ICC has assured my Department that it has extensive systems and practices in place to underpin the welfare of animals participating in coursing and that it goes to great lengths to ensure the highest standards of hare and greyhound welfare are adhered to.
An enhanced system of regulation for the detection of prohibited substances in coursing greyhounds, accompanied by more stringent sanctions, was put in place by the ICC in August 2012. The Executive Committee of the ICC has also established a sub-committee (the Testing Review Committee) to examine current practices for the detection of prohibited substances in coursing greyhounds with a view to extending the scope and frequency of testing. The Committee will report back to an EGM with recommendations for consideration and approval by members before the end of March 2015.
The ICC has established a “Hare and Field Committee” charged with assisting individual clubs in improving their infrastructure, facilities and knowledge base. Furthermore, the ICC provides a grant to individual clubs to improve their facilities.
An inspection is carried out by the ICC in advance of every coursing meeting to check that all arrangements are in place and ready for the event to proceed. This inspection is carried out by an ICC Control Steward, a member of the ICC Hare and Field Committee and a veterinary surgeon.
Each coursing meeting is overseen by one ICC Control Steward, one veterinary surgeon and one member of the ICC Executive Committee. The ICC Executive Committee member has wide-ranging powers to curtail or abandon a meeting The ICC has on occasion postponed coursing coursing meetings due to adverse weather conditions.
The role of the veterinary surgeon at coursing meetings has been expanded, including the inspection of hares before and after coursing.
As a further control measure, Rangers from the National Parks and Wildlife Service and veterinary inspectors attend from my Department attend a number of coursing meetings in a monitoring capacity.
The ICC organised a seminar, attended by the vast majority of clubs, giving expert advice on how to care for hares. The ICC also has a guidance document on the “Care of the Hare” almost ready to roll-out to clubs; much of the information in the document has already been relayed to Clubs.
Hares are assembled for coursing in accordance with a licence granted by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. These licences have 26 conditions attached, dealing with items such as welfare and veterinary supervision at coursing meetings. Conditions of the licences require Coursing Clubs to:
- have a veterinary surgeon in attendance at a coursing meeting,
- not course hares more than once per day,
- not course sick or injured hares,
- have adequate escapes for hares during coursing,
- comply with Irish Coursing Club directives,
- co-operate with National Parks and Wildlife Service staff.
A Monitoring Committee on Coursing was established during the 1993/94 coursing season and comprises of officials from my Department and representatives from both the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the ICC to monitor developments in coursing and in that regard the situation is kept under constant review to ensure that coursing is run in a well controlled and responsible manner in the interests of both hares and greyhounds alike.
A review of the outcome for the most recent season indicates that the procedures and processes in place in terms of animal welfare are appropriate given that 99.4% of hares were released back to the wild at the conclusion of coursing.
I am informed by the ICC that drag/lure coursing is not a feasible alternative to coursing because coursing greyhounds will not chase a drag/lure indefinitely and that after chasing a drag/lure once or twice the coursing greyhound will lose interest and disengage from the chase.
It is my belief that the systems in place to oversee coursing are effective, proportionate and working well and accordingly, I have no plans to ban hare coursing.
