Mr. D.J. Histon:

I thank the Deputy for her question. Illegal hunting is completely separate from legal hare coursing. The people involved in illegal hunting are not involved in coursing. The people involved in coursing are the ones reporting illegal hunting, preventing it and working with the NPWS and the Garda to protect the preserves where the hares reside to ensure that coursing can take place yearly. If anybody involved in coursing is involved in illegal hunting, they should absolutely be debarred from the club. I am not aware of anyone being involved in this way. If they were, I would have heard by now because our people would report them immediately. These are therefore two completely separate activities. This is a point one does not hear about in the media, unfortunately, and one that is very seldom raised by Deputies in the Dáil.

That is disappointing, given that we are talking about hares, which are a protected species that can only be hunted under specific licences and legislation, such as the open seasons order. I think that is the point the Deputy was making.