Mr. Pat Herbert:

I thank the Senator for her question. In 2005, the then Irish Greyhound Board introduced specific regulations on the area of artificial insemination. The practices that govern the procedure in this country are subject to the Artificial Insemination of Greyhounds Regulations, SI 561 of 2005. Under these regulations, the board's remit chiefly concerns the issuing of licences on an annual basis on receipt of an appropriate recommendation from the Irish Coursing Club, ICC. As members will be aware, the ICC is the registration body for all matings of stud dogs in this country. The legislation covers how and where semen may be domestically managed or imported, whichever is the case, and how it may be collected and stored. The legislation covers a raft of regulatory provisions under various headings. It is important to note that while Greyhound Racing Ireland issues licences on an annual basis, it is the ICC that has specific statutory responsibility to maintain the records on the area of frozen semen implantation and artificial insemination. Such work is not the remit of Greyhound Racing Ireland.

On the actual process of implantation, semen is implanted in a number of ways, for example using straws containing chilled fresh semen. I defer to my veterinary colleague as he is abundantly more qualified to speak about the operation.