Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 21 February 2019
11. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if a pilot project will be introduced to microchip hares at some coursing meetings during the 2019-2020 coursing season in consultation with an organisation (details supplied); and if submissions in relation to the matter will be considered from animal welfare organisations directly concerned with the protection of hares. [8629/19]
View answerThe Minister indicated previously that she agrees with us that there is some merit in considering the issue of microchipping hares at coursing meetings in order to protect them from being illegally traded or trafficked from one coursing event to another. I understand from replies to me that the Minister has asked her Department to examine this issue. Has there been any progress? Would the Minister consider taking submissions from organisations, such as the Irish Council Against Blood Sports?
First, I would say that we would.
My Department issued the Irish Coursing Club with licences in August 2018 on behalf of its affiliated clubs to capture and tag hares for the 2018-2019 coursing season which included conditions relating to the reporting of coursing trials.
There are 29 conditions associated with the licences issued to the Irish Coursing Club which have been developed and refined over the years. One of the conditions requires that hares may not be coursed more than once on the same day. In addition, the licence specifically requires that hares that have been coursed can be readily identified to ensure that this condition is rigidly observed.
I agree that there may be some merit in considering the issue of microchipping of hares at coursing meetings and I have requested officials of my Department to examine the possibility of perhaps introducing a pilot project at some coursing meetings during the 2019-2020 season in consultation with the Irish Coursing Club. Officials of my Department have already made contact with the Irish Coursing Club in this regard. It is certainly a method used in the tracking, quantification and assessment of certain species in the wild and if it aids the welfare of the wild animal and can be feasibly, safely and cleanly done, then it merits that consideration. I thank Deputy for suggesting it as a way to ensure the safety and welfare of hares. I would be open also to receiving submissions from animal welfare bodies on the question of microchipping, as the Deputy mentioned.
I am aware that the Deputy has raised the issue of illegal - the Deputy mentioned trafficking - trading of hares previously and the suggestion of microchipping is made in that regard too. I can assure the Deputy that any allegations made to my Department about illegal trading of hares will be investigated where possible.
I am glad the Minister has confirmed that she is progressing with the idea of a pilot scheme for either this year or next year. While recognising that the opinion of the ICC have been sought already, I would ask how the welfare groups, such as Irish Council Against Blood Sports, ICABS, have an input. Can they now contact the Department? Is there someone they can talk to? Of course, the licence currently states that one cannot do this activity. One cannot traffic in or reuse hares, but the reason the issue of microchipping is being raised is it is difficult to police that, even with the tagging. There have been some graphic examples of unscrupulous characters hanging around outside coursing events selling on hares to clubs.
This is a significant concern for many rural communities as well. Gardaí in Kerry have been on the airwaves about pursuing these hunters who are coming onto land, collecting hares which they should not be doing and then "casing the joint" as well. It is necessary that we would move to the next stage.
Of course, it would be useful if any such allegation about trafficking were backed up by some evidence. If anybody the Deputy knows has any information, I ask her to get him or her to contact the Department or the National Parks and Wildlife Service.
The current position is that at a coursing meeting, the hares are tagged, normally, with an ear tag, in order to prevent them being coursed more than once a day. There would be a cost to coursing clubs, that we would have to bear in mind, in introducing microchipping and it is important that we collaborate with it in terms of exploring the possibility of bringing this in. Hence, the proposal to undertake a pilot project in co-operation with the Irish Coursing Club is probably the way to go for the moment in order to get its buy-in and the buy-in of everybody involved. Details would have to be worked out. An ear tag is readily visible; a chip is not so.
Over the years, there have been a number of allegations relating to the use of hares by coursing clubs. Some allegations claim that individuals catch hares illegally and sell them on to coursing clubs and that is something that we obviously want to stamp out as much as we can.
I thank the Minister. We have passed on specific allegations to the Minister and we will pass on more. I am sure the people watching will later on after this.
The illegal trafficking of hares between coursing clubs has always been a problem. As the Minister stated, in theory, the uninjured hares are supposed to be released but quite often they are caught again and traded on, which is something that we want to stamp out.
My understanding is that the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS, mammal expert has indicated support for the use of microchipping.
It is relatively cheap to do, as Dogs Trust will do it for roughly €4.50. I would be keen to see a compulsory system, even if only on a pilot basis at this stage. It would be a step in the right direction. Ideally, I would like to see coursing banned outright. The public would support that as well. Audiences are diminishing and it is an area that is dying out. In the meantime, we should be doing everything we can to ensure that the law is upheld and microchipping is cost-effective. The National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS, seem to be on for it and I am really hopeful that we could engage. Were the Minister in a position to give me the name of a person the groups could contact or to whom they could make their views known, that would be great.
