Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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Generally, ewes are heavy in lamb from January-February until May if it is a mountain area. That is four of five months when it is deadly dangerous if there are dogs. Even if ewes see a dog while being heavy in lamb, they can turn over. It is deadly dangerous. The Department might look at that.

I want to keep going because I want to let Deputy Carthy back in and we could have votes. We have cattle dogs, sheep dogs and dogs in the house that would not look at cattle or sheep. Any dog can bite, whether it is the smallest fella or the biggest fella. A dog can never be trusted. I am not a believer in all of these courses I am hearing about. The next thing we will people doing a course to own a cat. I would like to know the thoughts of both Departments on this. People are paying huge money for dogs in the house. We are doing it ourselves at home. I am a firm believer that it should be mandatory for people to have public liability insurance for their dog. If a dog goes after sheep, there should be a fallback. This is the way I look at it. Farmers have to have public liability for their cattle. It is one of areas they are covered for. The dogs are generally covered with that scheme. However, there are so many dogs now and I would say there is no cover for them. If people are prepared to pay €800, €1,200 and €1,500 for a dog, they should be prepared to pay for insurance cover. I am not looking for the type of insurance that covers vets like they have in England, or anything like that. I am saying that basic public liability insurance should be mandatory. I ask the witnesses to look at that.

People will say that my second suggestion will cost a few quid, and it will, but every dog should be on a DNA register. It is the only we will nail down which dog went after which sheep. There will always be blood left. Near to me in Ballymore, there is a guy who has sold the last of his sheep. He got rid of them. He had to go to the factory with them and they were all heavy in lamb. I saw the devastation that has caused. Last year, a friend of mine had sheep up in Killkerrin where his uncle gave him a bit of land. About 50 sheep were pulled apart. It is not only the ones that are dead. The ones that are maimed are the worst of the lot. Some of them have to be put down. Some of them will survive, but the flock is just ruined because they have been run and the fear is in them forever. That is the danger. If we want to have these animals as pets for some people or as working dogs for others, and if we are able to pay big prices for them, we should be able to afford cover for them. The Department should look at that.

Anyone's dog can go. We can give out about a dog running after something. With the best will in the world, the batteries on the control collars people put around their dog's neck to keep them from going beyond a certain radius in the garden can run down. The dog can then go off and when dogs go together these things happen.

We will not be foolproof - no one thinks we will - but we should have precautions in place. A big problem is that some of these things happen at night. We do not have a clue what dog did what. Farmers lose money and hope their insurance will cover the loss. The dog has gone home and there is not more about it. The dog might be hidden if they know it was at it. Those are the facts. We need to take a proactive approach because of the harm being done. I ask the departmental officials that when they are looking at the new legislation to consider those two matters, we must nail them down. That is all I have to say.