Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 23 May 2024
305. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development when the Local Authority Control of Dogs Statistics Report 2023 will be released; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23388/24]
View answer306. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development what her Department is doing to tackle the non-payment of dog control fixed charge notices; how many fixed charge notices from 2022 have been paid since the 2022 report was issued; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23389/24]
View answer307. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development how several local authorities such as Galway city, Longford and Tipperary did not issue any dog control on-the-spot fines during 2022; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23390/24]
View answer308. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development if she will consider creating a centralised funding mechanism for the dog warden service; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23391/24]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 305 to 308, inclusive, together.
The Department of Rural and Community Development has overall policy responsibility for the Control of Dogs Acts 1986 to 2014. Local Authorities have responsibility for all operational matters under the Control of Dogs Acts including licensing and enforcement. Local Authorities are well placed to target measures in their areas.
My Department has no role in the issuing of fixed penalty notices but I believe Dog Wardens are well placed to detect and deal with offences under the Acts. To support the work of the wardens my Department is part funding a national training programme for dog wardens to ensure consistency and a standardised approach to enforcement. This training commenced in April.
My Department publishes annual statistics in respect of a range of the dog control responsibilities of local authorities. Information up to and including 2022, including the numbers of on-the-spot fines issued, by county and in tabular form, is available on the dog control statistics page on gov.ie. My officials have requested 2023 statistics from all Local Authorities and once all returns are received, collated and analysed they will be published on gov.ie. I look forward to publishing these on gov.ie in the coming weeks.
I very much appreciate all the work of Local Authorities in collating and making statistics available. These statistics form the evidence base needed for better policy making and I look forward to continuing to work collaboratively with them in improving national policy in this area.
I am committed to improving outcomes in relation to Dog Control in Ireland and in this context in November 2023, I increased ‘on-the-spot’ fines for offences under the Control of Dogs Act, including trebling the fines for most serious offences from €100 to €300. Multiple fines can be issued where more than one offence occurs.
In addition, I announced the establishment of a high level stakeholder group to consider and make recommendations to strengthen policy in relation to control of dogs issues. Membership of the stakeholder group will comprise a broad range of expertise including academics, veterinary surgeons, local authorities, farming interests, charities working in the field and animal welfare experts. This stakeholder group will also consider if legislative changes to the Control of Dogs Act are required. The first meeting of this group took place recently and the next meeting will take place in June.
I believe it is important for dog owners to be aware of their responsibilities, not just to the general public but also to their dogs. For this reason, I launched a major national awareness campaign to alert dog owners to their responsibilities and to raise awareness of the dangers that can be posed to people and to livestock by uncontrolled dogs.
