Mr. Michael Sheahan:

I thank the Chairman for this invitation to address the committee on the topic of welfare and treatment of horses and their traceability. I am joined this evening by my colleagues James Choiseul, Avril Hobson, Frances MacAodhain.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine takes its overarching responsibility for animal welfare policy in Ireland and for the welfare of horses most seriously. I welcome the opportunity to demonstrate our ongoing commitment in this regard. The committee’s request to discuss this topic with reference to equine traceability is also welcome. Traceability is an important component which supports animal health, animal welfare and the integrity of the food chain. I can share with the committee the ongoing efforts of the Department, in parallel with the wider EU approach, to improve traceability in the equine sector.

I am conscious that our discussion is framed by the recent RTÉ programme and the shocking and distressing footage that was broadcast showing appalling mistreatment of horses. The public reaction to the scenes broadcast has understandably been one of universal revulsion. The Department shares this view and condemns any mistreatment of horses. As I have said elsewhere, the footage was some of the most sickening I have ever seen. The Department has commenced an investigation into these matters with the support of An Garda Síochána and we can assure the members of the committee and the general public that the full force of the law will apply to those responsible.

It is understandable that scenes like those broadcast prompt people to question how this happened and whether the Department, as the regulator, should itself have identified such activity. This is something we have been reflecting on quite a bit since the programme.

Unfortunately, despite making very significant progress in the area of animal welfare over recent decades, ill-treatment of and cruelty to animals continues in our society. The Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013 was and is very progressive legislation. The Department has in excess of 200 officers authorised under the Act who, during their work, carry out welfare inspections around the country and are out on the ground every day, providing advice and support to the keepers of animals. Members of An Garda Síochána and the Customs and Excise Service are authorised officers, and under a service level agreement, inspectors of the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, ISPCA, Dublin Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, DSPCA, Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board, IHRB, and Rásaiocht Con Éireann are also authorised under the Act. Local authorities are also empowered to appoint authorised officers under the Act.

Authorised officers regularly carry out inspections and investigations, and work towards ensuring the welfare of animals and legislative compliance, with interventions ranging from advice to warning and legal compliance notices. When necessary, legal sanctions are imposed and prosecutions are taken when other efforts to ensure compliance have failed or there is blatant disregard for an animal’s welfare. Since the Animal Health and Welfare Act came into operation in March 2014, 162 individuals have been successfully prosecuted. This figure includes 18 equine-related prosecutions. A number of other investigations are ongoing.

In 2021, the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, launched Working Together for Animal Welfare, Ireland’s Animal Welfare Strategy 2021-2025. This is our first stand-alone animal welfare strategy, and it reflects the significant animal welfare commitments in the programme for Government.

The Department is committed to supporting the welfare of equines and provides support to a number of urban horse projects nationwide. This gives effect to the programme for Government commitment to develop additional urban horse welfare programmes, working with local authorities, charities and community stakeholders. These projects have proven very successful and are aimed specifically at equine welfare and marginalised communities. The projects can foster community leadership and education in responsible horse ownership.

These projects greatly benefit the welfare of equines and of young people from disadvantaged communities or backgrounds. From 2015 to date, a total of more than €1.86 million has been spent on urban horse projects by the Department, with €350,000 allocated for these projects for 2024. I am familiar with a few of those projects.

In particular, I had the opportunity to see the Moyross project in Limerick and the Cherry Orchard project in action. I was very impressed with what I saw in both of those over recent years.

Last December, the Minister provided some €6 million to support the work of 101 animal welfare charities. Of this, €3.3 million went to 24 organisations that have activities that directly support horse or equid welfare. This funding recognises the importance of the role such charities play in education, awareness raising and the dissemination of knowledge to improve animal welfare. The supports provided to these organisations help with actions focused on preventing poor horse welfare outcomes. Prevention is better than cure. However, the work of these charities and our own officers shows that there is still much work to be done in better ensuring the welfare of animals across our society. For example, of the 1,609 animal welfare complaints received by our animal welfare helpline in 2023, 635 related to horses. All of the complaints that come in by phone or email are followed up by our inspectors.

With regard to the specifics highlighted on the "RTÉ Investigates” programme, members of the committee will now be aware that the majority of the recorded footage took place in a building adjacent to, but not part of, the approved Shannonside slaughter plant. This holding is separate from the Department-approved slaughter facility where the Department had a permanent presence during the day on which animals were being slaughtered. This is usually one day per week. This building was not the slaughterhouse lairage where the Department inspected and carried out its ante mortem checks on the animals being presented for slaughter. It was not subject to the specific regulations that govern slaughter plants. However, it was subject to general animal welfare regulations that apply to all holdings where animals are kept. We have asked RTÉ to provide the Department with all footage and any other evidence it may have, and arrangements for the handover of the footage are in train. As you would expect, we are getting full co-operation from RTÉ.The events witnessed are now subject to a live criminal investigation and I can assure members that the investigation will be thorough.

It may be helpful to the committee if I explain in detail the controls that are applied by the Department at the slaughterhouse. The Department staff in the slaughter plant take their responsibility to protect the food chain and ensure animal welfare extremely seriously and carry out their official controls as required under food and feed hygiene law. On the day of slaughter, Department staff, including a veterinary inspector and at least two technical officers, attend the plant from early morning. One technical officer carries out hygiene checks in advance of slaughter. The veterinary inspector and other technical officer, with the assistance of an employee of the food business, undertakes a detailed ante mortem examination of each horse on an individual basis. This involves: scanning the horse for a microchip; cross-checking the microchip with its identification document or passport; checking the markings of the horse against the passport; evaluating the age of the animal; checking the medicines page of the passport to ensure that the animal has not been excluded from the food chain; cross-checking the microchip against the central equine database to ensure the animal has not been excluded from the food chain; checking and evaluating the food chain information provided by the animal keeper; and finally undertaking a veterinary assessment of each animal from an animal health and animal welfare perspective to determine its suitability for slaughter for human consumption.

If the animal passes all ante mortemchecks, it moves forward for slaughter, at which time post mortemexaminations are carried out by a veterinary inspector, samples are taken for trichinella testing and, where relevant, for checks for residues as part of the national residue control plan. Further checks on the microchip are carried out and the piece of the carcase in the neck area in which the microchip is located is removed and sent for destruction. Further verification checks on age may be performed at this stage. If all checks are passed successfully, the carcases are passed for human consumption. If any checks fail at any stage, the carcases are rejected, excluded from the food chain and sent forward as animal by-products.

Turning to the overarching issue of traceability, our equine traceability system operates within the requirements of and is fully in compliance with EU law. In recognition of the importance of traceability to equine health, equine welfare and the integrity of the food chain, the Department has placed significant focus on improving equine traceability in recent years. There has been a number of significant advances over the last ten years, including the introduction of a central equine database in 2013 and a range of improved security features on equine passports in 2014, such as holograms, etc. In 2014, the Department made it a legal requirement to register all premises where equines are kept, so we now have a register of approximately 29,000 premises where equines are kept. In 2021, the first equine census was carried out and this was repeated in 2022 and 2023. There is now a portal to check the validity of equine microchips or passport numbers, and that was launched in 2023. Also in 2023, the Department provided and made available significant funding to the passport-issuing organisations to support the development and introduction of e-passports, which will help to simplify the updating of information relating to the movement of equines. It is an initiative we are very supportive of.

The Department acknowledges that our work on equine traceability is far from over, but these developments, particularly the ones relating to technology and e-passports, will continue to move equine traceability forward. Notwithstanding all the improvement and advances, the “RTÉ Investigates” programme prompts us in the Department to critically examine what more needs to be done. While the appalling abuse of animals witnessed is clearly a national issue, the questions posed about the robustness and effectiveness of the EU traceability system, which is considered among the best in world, is a broader issue. It is clear that we need to work with the EU Commission and other member states to further improve this system.

The EU fraud and food network was due to have a meeting today and I can confirm that meeting took place. A number of us attended and contributed to that meeting. We can give an overview of what happened at the meeting later, if time allows. Considerable progress has been made over the past decade at national and EU levels in tightening up on equine traceability, and I have outlined some of those measures. The recent programme has shown us and our EU colleagues that we need to do more, and we will. Again, the meeting today highlighted that this is a problem in a number of EU member states. There is a fallibility of the system when criminals are determined to beat it.

Considerable progress has also been made over the last decade in dealing with the significant unwanted horse problems we had. The scale of the unwanted horse problem, which is a significant factor underlying horse welfare issues, is now considerably smaller than it was a decade ago. The number of stray or abandoned horses seized by local authorities has fallen considerably over the past decade, from just under 5,000 in 2013 to approximately 400 in 2023. There are a number of reasons for this very significant decrease in unwanted horses, but at least some credit must go the various horse welfare organisations which have done great work in helping to reduce indiscriminate horse breeding, which was a major cause of the problem. The welfare groups, supported by the Department, have worked to educate horse owners to try to steer them away from indiscriminate breeding, but they have also provided very practical support, by organising subsidised horse castration clinics, often with subsidised horse microchipping and passporting as well. These initiatives have had a real, lasting and positive impact on the unwanted horse situation in this country. While I emphasise that the scale of the unwanted horse problem is a lot less than it was, I am conscious that there are still plenty of problems with unwanted horses. I am familiar with problems in Tipperary, Limerick, Cork and elsewhere. It is not that the problem has gone away, but the scale of it is a lot less than it was.

I hope that I have given members of the committee an overview of the Department’s activities in support of horse welfare and the improvements in equine traceability. I will conclude by restating the Department’s commitment to improving horse welfare and traceability. We are determined to take whatever lessons we need to from the RTÉ programme and use this as a catalyst for positive change for how we regulate horses in Ireland. We would be happy to answer any questions.