Lynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman. I appreciate that. I know the work Dr. Kirby is doing with PetBond is exceptional. I recommend anybody who wants to buy a puppy to avail of the support of that site. Surgical artificial insemination is a very invasive procedure, even if carried out by a vet. There are also the more concerning issues raised by Dr. Kirby, namely, the possibility that this is happening without vets or anybody qualified. Would Dr. Kirby say that, even with a vet present, it is something that should be limited in its uses because of its invasive nature? I know it is used quite a lot in greyhound racing as well as in the puppy farms.

The other issue is the requirement to register only breeding bitches. A dog breeding establishment has to register only if it has six or more bitches. Do we need to move on this? The purpose of these sessions is to look at how fit for purpose the law is. Do we need to move to requiring anybody keeping stud dogs to register? It is not hard to find them on Facebook. One individual whom I will not name is making about €250,000 per year in stud fees of bulldogs. Does Dr. Kirby think we need to require stud dogs to be registered?

My next question concerns designer breeds and the breeding of dogs that are very different in size and nature. Aside from the fact this must be done through artificial insemination, which is an invasive procedure, what are the implications for the dogs that are born out of those mismatches?