Paul Bradford (Fine Gael)

I appreciate the Minister's consideration of the issue. The section should read, "the owner shall have reason to believe all necessary measures are taken". That would provide for a reasonable balance. Under the current wording, the owner would almost have to have an audit undertaken of the place where his or her animal is kept. It would be better if the obligation on the owner was to have a reasonable belief matters were in order. Owners would not give their animals to people who would not look after them properly. How can an owner take all reasonable steps to monitor someone else's property? I look forward to the Minister coming back to us on this issue. We are all at one in that we want to ensure every animal, be it a farm or domestic animal, is properly looked after and cared for, but we do not want too many difficulties to arise from genuine mistakes. Perhaps we can arrive at a working compromise.