John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I am not raising this because of a particular area, but I have seen this activity on YouTube videos and have seen reports on it in the papers from different parts of the country. Some of the reports are shocking in their descriptions of how animals are treated. The same individuals seem to be back on the road the following day and this activity seems to go unchecked. If I was involved, I would probably end up being arrested, but some people seem to be able to engage in this activity without ending up arrested. That is the concern I and local communities would have when we see these videos, which are available publicly, and see these accounts reported nationally in the media. These activities are a source of concern for pedestrians and people who use our public roads.

We talk about safety on the roads but it is not just a question of people who drink and drive and have accidents, but the unlawful behaviour of people on the roads that causes serious problems for other road users. If the law is there and the 13,000-strong force is capable of dealing with it there should be a focus on this. Some stations do not even have scanners to scan the evidence to pick up the chip. I would have thought every station should have that equipment. I looked them up on the web and they cost only €200 or €300.