Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour) | Oireachtas source

This Bill is very important from a number of perspectives, including those relating to probity, integrity, funding, governance and the welfare of greyhounds. The central objective of the Bill is to root out neglect and cruelty in the industry by way of an emphasis on welfare. When I spoke on Second Stage on behalf of the Labour Party, I stated that we need to implement a detailed list of appropriate countries to which the licensed export of greyhounds from the State would be permissible. There has always been concern about the number of dogs that are exported and the destinations to which they are exported. There is a need to have appropriate and proper welfare regimes in place. During the pre-legislative scrutiny phase - I am not sure whether the Minister of State or his predecessor was responsible for this issue at the time - we heard many presentations from organisations such as Dogs Trust Ireland outlining significant concerns about the records of some of the destinations to which greyhounds are being exported.

I support the broad thrust of these amendments. If they are passed this evening and subsequently implemented, that will be fine and dandy from our perspective. As the Minister of State will probably tell us, however, the big issue would be how we control what happens when greyhounds go elsewhere. I am sure there will be significant legal complexity attached to that. While I support this proposal, I can see why the Minister of State may well have difficulties with it. I hope he does not. I acknowledge that the Minister of State and his officials have worked hard on the Bill over a number of years.

I have expressed the view on behalf of the Labour Party that the welfare issue has not been adequately addressed in the Bill. That is a significant shortcoming by any standard. Given that a substantial amount of taxpayers' money is being invested in the industry, we have to make sure all aspects of it are above reproach from the perspectives of integrity, probity, governance, sanctions and animal welfare. The export of unwanted greyhounds to places like Macau is a matter of concern. We have seen programmes which have illustrated that. Breeding establishments in China and elsewhere seem to have little or no animal welfare provision.

As Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan stated, we can start with a detailed register of the precise locations to which greyhounds are being exported. We should be exporting to EU countries which we hope are reputable. We are aware of the overarching regimes in those countries. Such regimes, which are rightly onerous, involve microchips, vaccination programmes and the requisite levels of supervision. There is a passport regime and everything. We must try to address what happens after greyhounds go to such locations, however.

We have to salute the work of the rescue agencies that valiantly look after abandoned greyhounds with little or no help or resources from the State. In fairness to the Minister of State, he showed his intention to address that when amendments were tabled in the Seanad. We welcome that.

I note that an amendment dealing with the collection of data was made in the Seanad. Maybe I have misread the Bill. I understand that on foot of the acceptance of an amendment, a provision in the Bill permits the gathering of export data.

My colleague, Deputy Broughan, introduced the Welfare of Greyhounds (Amendment) Bill 2017, the aim of which is to control the export of greyhounds and to provide for the publication of a white list of countries to which the export of greyhounds under licence would be permissible. That Bill, like Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan's amendments, seeks to make it an offence to export greyhounds to countries that are not on the white list.

I have met personnel from Dogs Trust Ireland. I must say they are excellent ambassadors for their organisation and are very well informed. I understand they are also members of the International Greyhound Forum.

The amendments before the committee are well-intentioned, focused and constructed. I have no doubt that the Minister of State would like to implement them if he could see a way of doing so. While I am supporting the amendments, I will be interested to hear what the Minister of State has to say on how we could ensure these provisions would be implemented at the destinations to which it would be permissible to export greyhounds. If a dog can be exported from this country to one of those places, it can also be exported from another EU member state to such a place. That is an issue. The bloody problem is how to resolve that. We may well have to tackle it at EU level. Perhaps the Government will lead the way in that regard.