Paul Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome our guests and compliment them on the great work they are doing. I do not want to be critical, and there may be an element of poor phraseology or bad wording here, but I must comment on the portion of the opening statement in which Ms Kenny said that the horses of Ireland are being starved. That is a general comment and I am a horse owner.

The powers that be at home tell me that I put my priority on the horses more than I do on the house. I have been told that by the people who go shopping and have the trolley full of dog and cat food before we start buying anything for the house. I am only one of many very dedicated, committed horse owners who as I say, in many cases, prioritise the horse and the horse’s care maybe over the humans in their lives. The way it was worded was unfortunate but we will leave it at that.

The Chair also mentioned that in all aspects of the equine sector the problem is the identification. As with all aspects of life, when it comes to criminality or anything the people who comply are the dedicated owners who will have their horses checked and everything will be in order. The ones who will end up at the witnesses' door are those who are not traceable. In that regard, even for horses that are chipped there is no continuity of change of ownership. The Chair mentioned the War Celeste scenario and situation. War Celeste went through Tattersalls. It had been chipped. One would imagine that for a horse that went through Tattersalls and was actually sold for nearly €250,000 it would be just a matter of reading the chip to identify an owner. However they were not able to identify an owner. How does one overcome that problem from a traceability scenario for horses that are actually chipped? How do the witnesses overcome the scenario of horses left in the park to run wild and when they come into their care they are not chipped? What power have the witnesses over that horse if no owner is identified? They do the teeth, the hooves, they get the farrier and whatever. Would they or some of the powers in enforcement have the power, assuming an owner will turn up later, to spay or geld that animal? Do we have the power to go that far? In my opinion that might help in solving the problem of the wild or unidentifiable horses or unowned horses. I do not know whether you have that much power.

Finally, in its submission My Lovely Horse Animal Rescue says it is providing education at its centres. Who comes to the education sessions? Who recruits? Who decides who comes? Is it open days for schools? Does it identify certain people within the community, or advertise for interest? When it states it is educating people at its centres, who is being educated? Would the witnesses like to get involved in a broader element of education where they become regular visitors to schools, nationally? Is that something they would like to do? Education is often offered as a solution for most problems but financially or through limited numbers we always end up talking about educating a minority or a very small number of people. Unless it is broader it does not have the desired effect. Could they see themselves in a position where they would be able to become a travelling roadshow visiting all schools in the country? Who are the people they are educating at the moment? How are they recruited and how do they find out about this or how do they get them in?