Mr. John Condon:

That issue occurs regularly. From a local authority perspective, the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013 makes the Department of agriculture responsible for animal welfare. While local authorities can legally appoint animal welfare officers under the legislation, we do not have any funding to do so. If we do so, it means something else has to perhaps take a hit to spare resources. The other thing is that the Department of agriculture, certainly in respect of large animals, has more skin in the game and expertise than local authorities. Different legislation is often applied across a number of Departments. That could happen here with appropriate amendments.