Lynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

One of the suggestions is that the legislation be amended to allow authorised officers, under the Animal Health and Welfare Act, to carry out inspections. Would that help? That would alleviate some of the pressure on local authorities if they are under-resourced. Obviously, we must bear in mind that we would have to resource the authorised officers to carry out inspections. Such a change would give inspections a more independent nature and the inspections would be more on a national basis.

Is there a cap on the number of litters allowed at a dog breeding establishment? Can the witnesses tell us their experience of what happens to breeding bitches when they are finished breeding?