Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 5 December 2012

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed)

10:40 am

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 35:



In page 19, before section 18, to insert the following new section:
18.--(1) A person shall not--(a) poison a protected animal, or
(b) lay poison by a method or in a manner that a protected animal has or would have access to the poison.(2) The owner, occupier or person in charge of land shall not lay or cause to be laid a poison or a substance containing a poison on land unless, before laying the
poison or substance, he or she erects or causes to be erected, and maintains, a notice or notices of the laying of poison upon the land so that at least one notice is clearly visible from every public place adjoining or being upon the land.
(3) The owner, occupier or person in charge of land on which a poison or a substance containing a poison is laid shall give at least 7 days' notice in writing in advance of the laying of the substance to the local authority for the functional area in which the land is situated.
(4) In proceedings for an offence under this section consisting of a contravention of subsection (1), it is a defence for the accused to show that all reasonable precautions were taken to prevent access to the poison or substance by protected animals.
(5) A person who contravenes this section commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a class B fine.
(6) In this section “land” does not include areas within the structure of a building.
(7) This section is in addition to and not in substitution for any enactment relating to the laying of poison.”.
This legislation is an attempt to consolidate a series of legislative measures relating to animal health and welfare. This new section clarifies that the focus of the section is within the remit of animal health and welfare and does not stray into the remit of other legislation. It deals solely with the laying of poison. There is no point in double and potentially contradictory legislation. The protection of wildlife is dealt with comprehensively in the wildlife Acts. Where poison is laid, efforts must be made to ensure protected animals are not exposed to the poison. In reality this means simple precautions such as laying poison in pipes or metal poison boxes so that pet animals cannot access it.

Subsection (6) states: "In this section "land" does not include areas within the structure of a building." A householder using poison to deal with a vermin problem in a walled garden, for example, will not need to put up a poison warning sign on the front gate. I welcome amendments to this new section on Report Stage. This new section is a good attempt at a practical response to the issue of laying poison while recognising that the impact on wild animals of the laying of poison is dealt with in the wildlife Acts.

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