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

We have done a significant amount on the control of horses issue in a short period. There has been more done on horse welfare over the past 12 months than over the past 12 years. The process had commenced prior to the horse meat crisis to improve the regulations and data relating to horses such as who owns them, their location, the premises they are on and the process by which some enter the human food chain, which needs to be checked and examined and so on. We now have a centralised database and passport issuing organisations, of which they are seven, must agree to supply information to the database before they can issue a passport for a horse. We, therefore, have a handle for the first time on the number of horses in Ireland, where they are, who owns them and so on. It is illegal to own a horse that does not have a microchip and a passport. This is not a option. One cannot have one's horse slaughtered for human consumption unless in its first six months or before the end of its first calendar year it has been microchipped and issued with a passport because we cannot trace the veterinary drugs and so on that it has consumed. Phenylbutazone is one example but there are others. Under EU regulations, no horse can enter the human food chain unless it has a passport and has been microchipped in its first six months of life.

Many farmers have asked why I do not introduce a system to test horses before they go into factories to check if there are traces of bute and so on in their blood. That is not acceptable. EU regulations are clear on this and they are in place to protect the integrity of the human food chain. Last year, approximately 10,500 horses were slaughtered in Ireland for human consumption compared to 24,000 in 2012. People think there has been a dramatic reduction on previous years but while there was a dramatic reduction on the previous year, 10,500 is the third highest number of horses slaughtered ever in the State. There was a glut of horses that were not wanted in our system. One of the problems associated with a recession is people cannot afford to keep horses and many of them sought to dispose of them. If they can be sold for human consumption, the owners will be paid between €400 and €600, otherwise they have to pay to have them humanely disposed of, rendered and so on. That is why they want to sell horses to factories.

Last year, we tightened up dramatically on this issue. There was evidence to suggest that some horses may have been going to factories to be slaughtered on the back of false passports. That is no longer possible. My Department supervise every slaughtering facility. Up until this time last year, some of them were supervised by local authorities but that is no longer the case. Now that we have a centralised database, the information regarding passports is much more accurate. If a person owns a horse in this State, he or she must have a passport and a microchip for the animal and he or she must register his or her equine premises otherwise he or she is keeping an animal in breach of the regulations. If the horse is at risk of welfare abuse, we will confiscate it. Last year, with the co-operation of the Garda and local authorities, we confiscated approximately 4,500 animals because we felt their welfare may have been compromised. We will not give the animals back to their owners unless they can demonstrate they have appropriate identification for them and they have an equine registered premises.

We are changing attitudes regarding how horse owners need to behave. We will enforce the law and we will take prosecutions against those who abuse horses. The Animal Health and Welfare Act to which many of the members contributed addresses this. We have made dramatic strides in horse welfare. Some people would like me to introduce a mass cull of horses that are valueless and for which there is no market as a welfare initiative. We have a plan that could work to facilitate such an approach but it is not the right approach because many of the welfare compromised horses would not be handed over in that scenario. People who have horses out the back that they no longer want or do not want to feed and do not have a market for expect the Minister to take the horses off their hands. I am sorry but I will not do that. I will spend public money to protect the welfare of animals; I will not spend it to help the income of people who have horses and who want grant aid to get rid of them because they cannot sell them. We take seriously the responsibility that goes with horse ownership and people need to understand that. I will happily give members who want a detailed outline of what the Department has done on horse welfare and protecting the integrity of the food chain in the context of horse slaughtering because we have spent a great deal of time on it and we will continue to focus on the issue.

We are getting value for money from local authorities, which is why I have not allocated as much money as last year for the confiscation of horses but if I need to increase that figure this year, I will.

We will continue to take a proactive approach to horse welfare. We will make examples of people if they are knowingly abusing their animals. If anyone has a horse they cannot afford to keep, they can use the freefone number for my Department and we will intervene to ensure the animal’s welfare is looked after. We will spend public moneys to do that. We increased the figure last year by €1.5 million on top of the Estimate. We are working with local authorities and the Garda, which has been helpful in some cases.

We are trying to consolidate and tidy up the dairy science Vote. It is our view that the dairy science allocation is more appropriate to subhead B13.21 rather than being covered in the administrative budget.

There has been a steady and substantial decline in TB while brucellosis has virtually been wiped out, both good news stories for Ireland. TB is down from 29,900 instances in 2008 to 15,000 in 2013. That is a dramatic reduction across our herd. There is a saving that goes with that in the compensation we need to give to farmers for TB reactor numbers. We have been so successful that the UK is now discussing the Irish approach towards TB reduction as the model to follow. That is a signal that we have the right approach to TB, brucellosis and disease control generally.

The €2 million figure relates to the spend on the fodder transport scheme. It must be remembered that we had to supplement the cost of importing fodder into Ireland early in the year.

The supports for a fallen animal from the Department amount to €30 for the animal collector and €58 for the renderer. The current subsidy rates, excluding VAT at 13.5%, per over 48-month bovines are €30 for collection, paid to knackery/animal collectors and €58 for rendering, paid to category 1 rendering plants. The cost of collection to the farmer for such animals is capped at €54.03, including VAT.