Dr. Eoin Ryan:

On the microchipping portal, the Senator will remember that the Oireachtas joint committee report on dog welfare addressed this issue. It was also part of the control of dogs working group report. In a way, this proposal sort of brings this on. We do already have a version of a portal, of course, because all of the four approved databases and dog microchips in Ireland must be affiliated with Europetnet. A searchable portal, therefore, already exists in Ireland and provides this function. What is proposed in this regulation will largely mirror that system. The Commission proposes that there be something along these lines. We do, then, already have a system whereby we have a single search portal under Europetnet. One can enter a dog microchip number into that portal and it will confirm which specific microchip database a dog is registered with. It would then be possible to contact the database. We do already have this functionality in place.

The other query from the Senator is an interesting one. Concerns were expressed during the discussions if it were to be said that only a vet could ever put down an animal. If an animal were in extremis, in a very difficult circumstance, and no vet were available, are we going to say it would be completely illegal for anyone else to euthanise the animal? This may be of particular relevance for some member states where the nearest vet may be a drive of several hours away and a long time would pass before an animal could be euthanised. The consideration here is if we should say there should never ever be this type of action undertaken unless it is done by a vet, or are there circumstances in which a vet may be hours away and it is just not possible to get one on-scene quickly for an animal in extreme circumstances. Are we going to say that nobody other than a vet should ever be able to put an animal down in these types of situation? There was a lot of discussion about this point. Everybody is united in wanting what is best for animals in those types of circumstances. Part of the concern was focused on what would happen if it were not possible to get a vet and an animal is in extremely-----