Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein)
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I welcome the witnesses. I have a number of questions. I will ask three and let other members in. The Department published statistics on local authority dog-related activities. Can Ms Nic Aongusa tell us the biggest issue local authorities are faced with? Is it stray, missing or mistreated dogs or illegal breeding? According to the statistics for 2020 on gov.ie, five local authorities issued no on-the-spot fines in 2020. I appreciate the pandemic may have been partly responsible for that, but I checked the figures on the same website for 2019 and the number was four - Tipperary and Kildare were included for both years. There were four in 2018, with Tipperary coming up again. In 2017, four fines were issued. None were reported to have been paid and no prosecutions or convictions were recorded.

Can Ms Nic Aongusa offer any reason some local authorities have issued no fines? In the instances that have been reported, could she explain why that was not followed through on? If the Department's statistics have any purpose, it is to inform us as to how well a policy is working. What is being done to address the issue from the Department side?