Parliamentary questions

Animal Welfare

Maureen O'Sullivan

172. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason the National Parks and Wildlife Service's licensing unit for the granting of licences to kill pine martens comes under the remit of the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and not under that of his Department; the level of communication and information sharing that exists between the two Departments in respect of animal issues; his views on whether his Department should oversee all animal welfare issues as emphasised in the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20580/14]

Animal Welfare

Maureen O'Sullivan

173. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his attention has been drawn to the cramped and filthy conditions that animals, including tigers are forced to live in at some circus encampments here; if circus encampments are regularly checked by animal welfare officers; the monitoring carried out to ensure that high standards of animal welfare are maintained in the animal entertainment industry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20581/14]

Departmental Schemes

Maureen O'Sullivan

174. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his plans to better target public money towards the protection of the environment in his Department's agri-environment schemes and as called for by the Irish Wildlife Trust's submission under the rural development programme; if his Department has plans to undergo a formal assessment and evaluation of the mistakes made in respect of the REP scheme, such as the lack of environmental targets and generic measures applied across all farms; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20582/14]

Hare Coursing Regulation

Maureen O'Sullivan

145. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to the six greyhounds that participated in this year's national hare coursing festival testing positive for banned substances, if he will have the Irish Coursing Club extend drug testing of greyhounds to all hare coursing events; his views on having his Department initiate its own drug testing at these events; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18183/14]

Animal Welfare

Maureen O'Sullivan

456. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if an investigation is pending regarding the recent reports of an incident where the carcases of dead horses were left in a field in Clonmel, County Tipperary, earlier this week until locals became aware of same and that carcases were then moved to a halting site and put into a shed where staff of the local council found them; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14757/14]

Animal Welfare

Maureen O'Sullivan

471. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his attention has been drawn to an incident last week involving the carcases of dead horses found in a field in Clonmel, County Tipperary, and the subsequent removal of the carcases to a site which was later discovered by local councillors; if he will commit to reinforcing animal protection for horses in view of the burning of a horse in Dublin last November; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15086/14]

Animal Welfare

Maureen O'Sullivan

26. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will outline the regulations in place for sulky racing due to the significant concerns regarding the welfare of the horses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13832/14]

Animal Welfare

Maureen O'Sullivan

31. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will consider an outright ban on the inhumane practice commonly known as the digging out of foxes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13831/14]

Animal Welfare

Maureen O'Sullivan

864. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will consider an outright ban on the use of animals in circuses here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13271/14]

Animal Breeding Regulations

Maureen O'Sullivan

898. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 192 of 6 March 2014, if his attention has been drawn to the fact that greyhound owners who are against hare coursing, still have to register their greyhound for greyhound track racing with the Irish Coursing Club despite objecting to hare coursing on ethical grounds; if he understands the dilemma this places on persons who have to pay money to the ICC regardless of their position on hare coursing; if he will consider transferring greyhound registration from the ICC to Bord na gCon - the Greyhound Board; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13784/14]

Land Issues

Maureen O'Sullivan

357. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will publish the collection of Land Commission records (1881-1982) in the custody of his Department, including correspondence, estate records, family trees, lease-books, tenants’ lists, maps, deeds, wills and so on in a manner comparable to the publication of the pre-1923 Land Commission records by the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, on proni.gov.uk, those records having been supplied to the Public Record Office Northern Ireland by his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10840/14]

Registration of Title

Maureen O'Sullivan

592. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if the land held by a sporting body (details supplied) in Dublin 7 was originally provided by the Land Commission, upon the distribution of the old Monck Estate with a trust set up to oversee the management of the land and the trustees originally appointed by him and registered as legal owners of the land; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9332/14]

Registration of Title

Maureen O'Sullivan

593. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he is responsible for overseeing the administration of a sporting body (details supplied) and similar trusts, that is, for replacing trustees, arbitrating in disputes and so forth; in the event that this is such a trust, if he will provide a copy of the trust deed which may be dated from the period 1934–1936; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9333/14]

Tuberculosis Incidence

Maureen O'Sullivan

221. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will confirm when the results from several badger vaccination trials will be released; if he will cease badger culling in the meantime in view of the fact that €3.4 million was spent on culling 6,939 badgers in 2012 and only 55 less cattle were diagnosed with bovine TB in comparison to 2011, and in view of the fact that the transmission route is still unknown between badger and cattle; if he will not cease culling, if he will provide a closed season between January and May when badgers cannot be culled as they are breeding and while a detailed survey has not been carried out to clarify present badger populations which may be significantly affected due to years of culling practices; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8873/14]

Animal Welfare

Maureen O'Sullivan

613. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his attention has been drawn to the fact that an organisation (details supplied) recently forcibly ejected two animal welfare campaigners from a national coursing meeting preventing them filming, even though the organisation officials publicly said everyone was welcome at coursing meetings; if he has ever attended or seen film footage of a coursing meeting; and if so under what circumstances he considers coursing a sport. [7573/14]

Animal Welfare

Maureen O'Sullivan

177. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the action he will take in response to the recent death of a horse during a sulky race in County Tipperary; the current legal status of sulky racing here; his plans to ban such activities which prove harmful to the animals involved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7127/14]

Severe Weather Events Expenditure

Maureen O'Sullivan

617. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will consider some form of compensation for those fishermen who have lost equipment, for example, lobster pots, in the recent storms; if he will further consider a scheme of compensation similar to that for the farming community for fodder when it was adversely affected by weather; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3794/14]

Animal Welfare

Maureen O'Sullivan

277. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if the removal of a deer's antlers by sawing or other means constitutes a mutilation under section 11(b) of the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1943/14]

Animal Welfare

Maureen O'Sullivan

288. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his attention has been drawn to the dangers that recent weather events have had on hares and the health implications from being chased by greyhounds in waterlogged fields, frost-hardened ground; if he acknowledges that extreme weather events give a disadvantage to the hare during competitions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2084/14]

Forestry Management

Maureen O'Sullivan

641. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 152 of 11 December 2013 in which he stated he will not publish the Coillte forestry review, if his attention has been drawn to the fact that Coillte is the largest forestry operator operating under the 1988 Forestry Act and is, therefore, fundamentally connected to the new Forestry Bill 2013; the way the new Forestry Bill 2013 will achieve sustainable forest management if older Acts such as the Forestry Act 1988, from which Coillte emanated, are not reviewed and reformed and since the principles of sustainable forest management stem from the Rio Earth Summit in 1992; and in the case that the 1988 Forestry Act predates this agreement, the reason it is primarily focused on the primacy of profit and timber production; the way it will be able to deliver the multiple benefits of sustainable forest management; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55461/13]