Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Minister says the option exists but it is weighted in so far as people will pay rather than go through the courts even though it is only an allegation. Deputy Ó Cúiv mentioned that other aspects of the law are black and white in that they are based on facts. Many cases relating to animal welfare come down to interpretation by the person observing. I am not casting aspersions on anybody but people making that interpretation and judgment as to whether to impose a fixed penalty payment might not understand what it is to be a member of a farming community with animals. If people pass a field in the middle of winter with snow on the ground and see animals there, some of them might interpret that as cruelty.