Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I thank Mr. Geraghty. I will push on with questions for Mr. Ryan. I thank him for coming before the committee. I want to be concise. I was a bit taken aback by something on page 4 of the written submission of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. I have several questions to ask but I also have a comment to make. According to the opening statement, "People are rarely intentionally cruel or neglectful, and most animal welfare risks can be resolved before they become critical". I dispute this and I am somewhat surprised to see it stated by the Department. We know of very substantial cruelty that goes on and it is intentional. There is a lot of cruelty to animals, be it livestock or domestic pets, and we see it all the time. We get a lot of representations on it. It is somewhat surprising that an official in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine would go to the extent of setting this out in writing. It is just a comment and I am not asking Mr. Ryan to reply. I was genuinely shocked by it. It raises the question as to where is the empathy in this issue. I want to leave that with Mr. Ryan to think about.

The Department's opening statement mentions the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, and the Working Together for Animal Welfare strategy. It is a good strategy.