Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)

This represents the duplication of charges as well as of regulations. We are talking about putting an extra charge on the greyhound industry when there already is a regime under the Greyhound Industry Act 1958 which deals with the obligations of the greyhound industry to animal welfare. This Bill suggests the bodies involved, the Irish Greyhound Board and the Irish Coursing Club, are not fulfilling their obligations under the 1958 Act, a serious charge.

The Minister claims up to 10% of all dogs put down each year are greyhounds. As the Minister can give that statistic, I would be interested to hear the percentage of greyhounds in the total dog population.