Ms Becky Bristow:

We would absolutely support linking the microchip to the licensing. Anything that joins up the traceability and the ownership can only be a good thing. I will give the committee a sense of the size of the market, and this is only a vague estimate. Last year, 125,000 dogs were microchipped in Ireland, and at an average price of €1,500 that is €187 million. That is €187 million, primarily in cash transactions, which is not traceable. This is a big deal. This is an industry. It is not about someone's friend's dog having the occasional accidental litter. From a consumer protection perspective, a person has no idea who he or she is getting this dog from. If there are any issues with it, be those health issues or that it is not the dog people thought it was - we have numerous cases where it is a different type of breed, older, very sick dogs - a person may be going back to a phone number that may no longer be connected. Therefore the issue of traceability and consumer protection is huge.

The same is true for the lost revenue angle, in the form of lost VAT, income tax and corporation tax. Obviously, we are here to say that for us it comes back to dog welfare but all of this interconnects. When people can hide behind all this lack of traceability and verification, they can breed dogs in utterly deplorable conditions. We got 37 dogs in recently from a puppy farm, which was an illegal one, and we had to get a counsellor in because the staff were so traumatised by what they saw of these breeding females. We accept breeding is a necessity but it must be done in good welfare conditions, which is completely possible. It is possible to make a profit from it given the price of dogs these days. Obviously we say: "Adopt, don't shop" but we completely understand people may want a particular breed or a puppy but at the moment there is no way for the public to know where they are getting the dog from. There is no way for them to do the right thing when they want to do the right thing.