Mr. John Butler:

Dog control and sheep worrying are issues the National Association of Regional Game Councils, NARGC, takes very seriously. We have a large cohort of dog ownership in the country, with more than 25,000 members who have an average of two to three dogs each. They are game hunting dogs and by their very nature they are highly trained to find, flush and retrieve game. As part of this training, we try to ensure, and we do ensure, the animals do not interact or interfere with domestic animals such as cattle and sheep. We have many expert trainers in our association and we take pride in how our dogs perform.

Having said this, we acknowledge and accept there is a problem and we want to be part of the solution. We are willing to help the farming community and landowners. We do so and we have done so in the past. Some of the measures we strongly support have been alluded to by other speakers. We feel strongly there should be a database of all dog ownership in Ireland. When we look at the fact that we know where every cow, calf and sheep is in Ireland, we should also know where every dog is in Ireland.

The old saying is that there are very few bad dogs out there but there are an awful lot of bad owners. We believe the responsibility for dogs being off a lead or out of action solely lies with the owner. This is where the buck should stop. It is where a database would come into its own. It, along with microchipping, would mean we know precisely who is at fault, the nature of the animal and the owner.

I ask that legislation be considered on the point that while a landowner is allowed to dispatch a dog worrying sheep, sometimes they may not have the facility to do so. They should be able to call on a local gun club member or a local licenceholder to do it on their behalf. We would like to see this acknowledged as part of the legislation and included as part and parcel of it. We are here to help and we will do so in any way we can.