Joe Flaherty (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I commend Deputy Cahill on this Private Members' Bill. It is not before time and shows the great benefit of having peer knowledge in the Dáil. It is great to see him bringing it this far. I thank the witnesses from Veterinary Ireland for coming before the committee and for their input into the debate today. I do not want to get into it too much but I am conscious that some of the evidence about the way the ownership model has changed is frightening. It presents significant challenges and concerns for us as the custodians of animal welfare and also probably as the custodians of quality in meat and food production. We need to safeguard that.

My query is more for the committee than for any of our speakers. I assume the Veterinary Council of Ireland and the Department will come back before us on this issue. I appreciate greatly the work that vets do. We have a fantastic service across the country. We must be mindful of the influx of corporate-type entities. To that end, this legislation is hugely timely. I am honoured it is coming from Fianna Fáil and will support it enthusiastically.