Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the representatives. Their organisation is wonderful. I am a major advocate for animal welfare and I have been involved in equestrian sport for many years, but that is a separate matter. I acknowledge their enormous work. The one great thing about Irish people is that, on the whole, the majority of them - I know there are many cases where they do not - love animals, especially horses and dogs. I have been involved in other animal welfare charities and I know the challenges faced by charities when they have professional full-time staff versus volunteers. There is always a little conflict, particularly around governance issues and all of that, which are an ongoing challenge. Much of that has been tidied up. Quite a few animal welfare charities have been involved in issues around governance, although not the organisation represented today. These issues do not arise deliberately but happen because of the possible synergy or merger between the voluntary sector and professional full-time staff in a very keen body. I always acknowledge that but everyone is well-meaning and the My Lovely Horse Rescue charity is an exceptionally good one.

I will only share one or two issues because otherwise I will be repeating myself. As I said, My Lovely Horse Rescue is a very good organisation. I have looked it up and followed up some of its work. I would like to hear briefly about three issues relating to enforcement. If they have covered it, I ask our guests not to go back over it. I was speaking in the Seanad and I apologise for just arriving. There was an issue with a certain amount of reluctance on the part of members of An Garda Síochána, who said they did not have the expertise when they were challenged with issues around this. There were also conflicts with people involved in cruelty or abandonment of animals who were part of a bigger Garda operation to do with other issues of criminality where there were layers of issues and, suddenly, the Garda turned a blind eye. Such issues were considered as being way down the pecking order and not being as important for some. I do not agree with that strategy.

I did some work two or three years ago that I am happy to share with the witnesses. I surveyed every one of the 31 local authorities and ascertained what funding they were receiving from any Government agency. I was quite shocked by the high level of it but was more shocked by the fact it was not all drawn down. In some cases, there was a suggestion at the end of the year that it could be used for other purposes. Will the witnesses share with us their relationship with the local authorities? They are very important outfits in respect of policing and control, and they have certain responsibilities, but I was somewhat shocked by the amount of money going directly to local authorities that they were meant to redistribute to welfare charities. Is there a need for reform of that? What is the representatives' experience of that? I do not know if they receive any subvention from local authorities or centrally from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. The issue I would like to hear about is the relationship of My Lovely Horse Rescue with the local authorities. How do the witnesses find it? Could it be improved? Is there potential for more funding? Where is their strand of funding from the local authorities and what is their relationship with those bodies? That is the gist of it.

Again, My Lovely Horse Rescue is a brilliant organisation that does brilliant work. It is highly thought of and people instantly know it. A colleague in my office today asked if she could attend when she heard representatives of My Lovely Horse Rescue were coming in. I said I would send her all the material but she was excited and delighted, as was her daughter, who is involved in some sort of horse welfare initiative in Clonsilla. I will link the witnesses in with that too. I thank them for their time and for appearing before the committee. Well done on their work.