Mr. D.J. Histon:

Ireland has always been a breeding nation. We do not know the full detail of this case involving 12 greyhounds. We do not know what the owner's intentions were so I cannot comment on the case.

With regard to what the ICC and the industry can do about the issue, we could look to Australia for example. Greyhounds Australasia covers all greyhound territories in Australia and New Zealand. The organisation set up an export passport programme, which does not have statutory effect in that it is not federal law in Australia. It obligates an owner to complete a greyhound export form that outlines where the dog is to be sent, where it will reside and the purpose of the sale. Greyhounds Australasia did a review of every country to which Australian greyhounds were being exported and examined the welfare in each of those countries using certain criteria. These countries were then ranked and greyhound passports were no longer issued for export to countries that did not meet the export criteria. The owner, however, could still send the dog to these countries under federal law. The same applies here in respect of EU law and world trade law. This process added another layer of bureaucracy and put greater focus on exporting dogs to countries that may not necessarily have the appropriate welfare standards. The World Greyhound Racing Federation operated until some years ago and all the regulated greyhound racing jurisdictions were members. The organisation has waned in the past seven or eight years. There should be an appetite to reinvent it, harmonise welfare in all the member countries and agree what is and is not good practice in exporting to countries that may not necessarily have proper regulatory regimes or welfare regulations. That matter was discussed recently at a meeting in London with the Greyhound Board of Great Britain. I believe it also takes the view that it would be good to re-establish that organisation to get all those learnings into one place. We do not have to reinvent the wheel. If Australia has done something, for example, let us try to utilise its experience and apply it in each jurisdiction for the betterment of the industry in each area.

Deputy Pringle asked a question about the number of deaths. We have a clear record on the number of deaths of hares. We have very few fatalities. I do not have a number for the Deputy but it is extremely low because in coursing there are only two dogs at each course or event. In track racing, however, eight dogs will race in Australia and six dogs will race in Ireland. There are also different scenarios involved, with running on bends and so on whereas in coursing it is just a straight run up the field. The chances of injury are minimised for that reason alone.