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Control of Horses

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 22 March 2018

Thursday, 22 March 2018

Ceisteanna (227)

Mattie McGrath

Ceist:

227. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views on whether the issue of equines being stamped out of the food chain is a contributory factor to the seizure of horses and ponies without the correct paperwork (details supplied) under the Control of Horses Act 1996 at a cost of €4.5 million in each of the years 2014 to 2017; his plans to review this system; and if the payment of such items will continue. [13340/18]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

Equines seized under the Control of Horses Act 1996 are generally done so on the basis that they are straying, causing a nuisance or posing a danger. In these circumstances they are unlikely to be under the care of their keepers. Accordingly, any identification document issued in respect of the animals will not be available immediately.

Where, at the point of seizure, a microchip cannot be detected in an equine, it is not possible to determine the identification status or food chain eligibility of that animal.  The absence of a microchip does not necessarily render an equine unidentified as microchips are required only for equines identified with a passport from 1 July 2009 onwards. 

EU legislation governing the identification of equines is Commission Implementing Regulation 262/2015 (CR 262/2015), as transposed into national law via S.I. 62 of 2016.

S.I. 62 of 2016 requires that an application for an equine passport must be made within 6 months of the recorded date of birth of the equine. CR 262/2015 provides that all equines must be issued with an identification document (passport) recording the number of the approved microchip implanted into the equine by a private veterinary practitioner, no later than 12 months from the date of birth of the animal. Identification documents issued after that time must be in the format of replacement/duplicate documents which must be stamped to irrevocably exclude the related equines from the food chain.

CR 262/2015 endeavours to protect the food chain and public health in ensuring that only those equines eligible for the food chain are slaughtered for human consumption. It is a binding legislative Act that must be applied in its entirety across the EU.

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