Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Fianna Fail)

As a member of the Government party I should have my hands around my two Green Party colleagues here but, unfortunately, this is not the case. I am not happy either. The Minister knows this and so does his colleague, the former Minister of State, Deputy Sargent. I have had many debates with my colleague in government and I hope to have some more during the passage of upcoming Bills but in my view, any legislation passed by this House should be assessed by means of an impact assessment study to assess the detrimental or otherwise effects on any person or community. This has not happened in the case of this Bill. There has not been proper consultation. Will there be a Bill to protect the ordinary, decent people referred to by the previous speaker and other speakers? They are having sleepless nights and are being terrorised. I have said this to Deputy Sargent on another occasion. People are being victimised and pilloried and held up as being wild men or wild animals themselves, which is shameful. It is time for some common-sense.

The Minister is a reasonable man as are most of his colleagues in the House and I have said to him in the past that this policy and legislation are being driven by unreasonable people. I will not say anything stronger today although I could. These people are not being fair to the decent, plain people of Ireland. It has been noted that this stag hunt has been in existence since 1854 and reference has been made to its benefits. People who take part in rural pursuits and who get their children involved will care for animals more than any animal rights person or self-proclaimed animal rights people because they are close to nature. They understand nature and they are familiar with farming practices and respect them and the farming communities. I acknowledge there was an horrific incident involving a deer in a school yard which is not desirable.

I refer to the explanatory memorandum of the Bill which states:

Section 3 provides for a new provision making it an offence to hunt deer using two or more dogs. This provision includes the hunting of deer by any holder of an appropriate hunting licence or permission granted under the Wildlife Acts. For the purposes of this section deer includes deer that are not wild animals. It shall not make it an offence where the person has been granted permission under section 42 of the Wildlife Acts to use dogs to drive deer off land where they are causing serious damage to tree plantations or crops.

That is lunacy. I was reared on a farm and so was the Acting Chairman, Deputy Johnny Brady. I ask my learned colleagues to come and visit the farms. I know Deputy Sargent has visited farms. Nobody can drive any animal, whether wild or tame, off land as this section suggests. I had big problems in my area with wild deer and I have been in touch with the Minister's Department on a regular basis to see what can be done to help farmers. Deer are already running by themselves so it is very dangerous to run them. They run and knock fences, even electric fences and they run onto roadways. Deer can do great damage to vehicles. This Bill provides for the use of dogs to drive deer off land. The people who drafted this Bill do not understand the situation and that is the basis of our problem. This is why I am so exercised about it. I am disappointed it forms part of the programme for Government. I am shocked to think that one of our negotiators is a constituency colleague of Deputy Wallace and Deputy Brady. He should know about stag hunting. I know nothing about stag hunting because I do not live in that part of the country so I will not stray into it. However, I am disappointed in the way they have been vilified.

Nothing has been said about the fallen animals scheme and the good practices carried out by the hunt people on behalf of the community. When a member of the Garda Síochána is called to an accident involving, for example, a horse injured on the road in Dublin or wherever, a vet will come to treat the animal and put it down. He will then telephone the Ward Union Hunt and within 15 or 20 minutes, they will be on the scene to provide a fallen animal service. Who will provide this service, who will take up the slack?

A lot of good work is being undermined in this Bill. I ask the Minister to consider why people are thinking this is the thin end of the wedge. This is why the RISE! people who are coming up here this evening to lobby us, are worried. It is farcical to talk about public safety when the Bill provides that deer can be driven off land with dogs, into other land or into forestry or onto roads. This is not ensuring public safety. We are putting the cart before the horse.

I ask the Minister - with regard to another Bill due before the House - to honour a commitment he made in writing to his Cabinet colleagues in 2008. If that commitment in writing cannot be honoured here by a Minister, can any spoken commitment be believed? I ask him to think of the ordinary, plain people of Ireland who want to continue carrying out practices that have been in existence since old God's time. The Green Party is relatively new. It is in government with us and we have a good relationship. I met the Minister at a conference in the Glen of Aherlow. I would welcome him down again and we could take a walk into the woods and see nature at its best-----

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