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Hare Coursing Regulation

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 9 May 2018

Wednesday, 9 May 2018

Ceisteanna (33)

Thomas P. Broughan

Ceist:

33. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the exceptional circumstances under which a coursing club may apply to hold a second day’s trial; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19895/18]

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Freagraí ó Béal (6 píosaí cainte)

Section 34 of the Wildlife Act 1976 says that an individual coursing club may hold no more than one trial session, but that in exceptional circumstances it may apply to hold a second day's trial. What are those exceptional circumstances? I am aware that in February Clonmel coursing club was given permission to hold a second day's trial. What were the exceptional circumstances pertaining to that? I have been asking a series of questions about strengthening the National Parks and Wildlife Service over the last year or so, particularly on the issue of monitoring coursing trials.

In October 2017 my Department issued a revised licence in relation to coursing under section 34 of the Wildlife Act 1976, as amended, to the Irish Coursing Club, ICC, on behalf of its affiliated clubs, which included new and revised conditions relating to the reporting of coursing trials. One such condition stipulates that an individual coursing club may hold no more than one trial session but that in exceptional circumstances the ICC may apply to hold a second day’s trial.

My Department received a request from the ICC to hold a second day’s trial in relation to the three day National Coursing Meeting which was held in Clonmel on 10, 11 and 12 February last. In granting the request for a second day’s trial my Department took into account the fact that the national coursing meeting in Clonmel is the largest coursing meeting held during the season with some 160 hares run during the three day meeting. I accepted the view that it would not have been possible to complete trails for this number of hares in one day at the time of year in February due to limited daylight. In addition, taking account of safety and welfare reasons, it was considered that a second day’s trial was needed in order to promote the familiarisation of hares with the field and with the most direct route to the escape.

It is important to stress that until my Department issued a revised licence last year, it would have been possible for every single club in the country to hold trials over as many days as they wanted. Clonmel was the only application that my Department received for a second day's trail since the licence to the ICC was amended in October last year. The current 2017-18 coursing season ended on 28 February last.

I welcome the Minister's remarks about the new and revised conditions, but I do not know if in actual fact the situation she describes is truly exceptional. What safeguards are in place to ensure that hares are being rested sufficiently and what reports does the Minister have of hares allegedly being shared between courses due to shortages? I know for example that at least 36 hares died at coursing meetings in 2015-16. Some 26 died during the 2016-17 season and by the end of the 2017 a further 13 had also died.

The Minister told me that the cost of recruiting 25 additional conservation rangers for the National Parks and Wildlife Service would be less than €640,000. I welcome the fact that 11 rangers were appointed during 2017. Surely, the fact that just six hare coursing meetings were monitored during the 2014-15 season is unacceptable. I know that number rose to 17 meetings in the following year, and in the 2017-18 season 24 meetings had been monitored. Why can we not arrive at a situation where all meetings are monitored and where hares are treated humanely and protected?

I agree with Deputy Broughan that the hares must be treated humanely and I believe that they need to be monitored, as do all of these trials. In order to familiarise hares with the layout of the coursing field and the location of the escape, in advance of coursing meetings hares in the hare park, the enclosure where they are kept prior to the start of the coursing meeting, will have access to the coursing field for some time. In addition, it is normal practice for some coursing clubs to train hares in advance of coursing meetings by holding trials, which are essentially preparation runs before the hares are pursued by two dogs along the actual coursing field.

It is horrendous.

It is my understanding that some 27 coursing events out of some 60 meetings were monitored by officials of my Department during the 2017-18 season, which ended on 28 February this year, including trials. During the 2016-17 season, a total of 17 coursing events were monitored by my Department.

The regional staff of my Department's National Parks and Wildlife Service attend coursing meetings as resources allow to monitor compliance with the conditions of the licences. Such staff perform a wide variety of functions relating to management of national parks, the conservation of habitats, the protection of protected species and the enforcement of national and EU law. Delivering on this work is particularly challenging at a time of constrained financial and staffing resources, but within this context, my Department prioritises its human resources to areas of most critical demand.

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