Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In my county, however, there are a lot of issues with trespassing, which has recently resulted in a couple of serious accidents, and in virtually all the cases the horses were not microchipped. If there is legislation for microchipping, surely it is someone's responsibility to ensure it is implemented. Irrespective of what payment regime is in place, ownership of an animal brings responsibility with it and the owner should be obliged to comply with that. Mr. Condon stated the legislation comes under the Department of agriculture. Are any spot-checks carried out on people with horses to see whether they have been microchipped, or is it just a matter of letting the owners work away and we do not bother them?