Mr. John Condon:

A Cathaoirleach Gníomhach agus a dhaoine uaisle, is mór an onóir dom a bheith anseo libh inniu. On behalf of the CCMA, I thank the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach and the members of this committee for inviting me to set out the city and county managers' positions on the review of the Control of Horses Act 1996, which this committee is undertaking at the moment.

The CCMA made a written submission in September last year, which sets out in detail our views on the review of the legislation and I will briefly deal with them in my opening statement.

The first point that we think is important is the time limits and types of notices served following the impoundment and disposal of horses. They should be standardised in the primary legislation. At the moment, they are covered in by-laws made by each individual local authority. The difficulty with that is it varies from local authority to local authority and people who are legitimately in the horse industry find that the rules vary throughout the State. If it was in primary legislation, it would be consistent throughout the State.

The next issue is that local authority vets should have more discretion when they find a distressed horse, with a view to having it rehomed. At the moment, we have to go through processes and observe time limits, and the horse might get worse before we get control of it. We also believe that where a horse has been detained on multiple occasions, time limits should be shortened because people who are what might be called "serial" offenders are able to play the system and this frustrates the enforcement of the legislation. The ability of local authorities to make by-laws to have exclusion areas where horses cannot be brought should be maintained. Local councillors in each area will know best which parts of their local authority areas should have exclusion zones. Similarly, legislation should have a general prohibition on grazing in public areas. That is sometimes done by by-laws but if there was a general prohibition on grazing in public areas, it would make enforcement easier. It is also the CCMA's view that there should be a general prohibition on riding or driving horses in public areas. That could be roads or streets. At the moment, exceptions are made for hackneys and different types of carriages. There should be a general prohibition. It would be a matter for the local authorities in places such as Killarney and St. Stephen's Green to designate certain roads or streets where such activity would be allowed. That would greatly help to improve the situation throughout the country.

Two other matters should be considered. There should be a centralised equine database. Horses are meant to be microchipped but there are different databases. There should be one centralised equine database. This would improve traceability and accountability and would help the enforcement of the legislation. Our final suggestion is that there should be a regime in place whereby equine premises can be inspected. To own a horse, the owner should have sufficient land and proper premises to accommodate the horse., otherwise there is a risk of cruelty, abuse and nuisance to neighbours and so on. Currently there is no regime for checking that the owner who applies for a licence has adequate premises and facilities. Any review of the legislation should provide for that.

It is also the view of the local authorities involved that updating the legislation is important but does not solve the entire problem. It is important in that it gives us a greater basis on which to work but horse control is not a core local authority function. If local authorities end up having to do more work in this area, additional resources will be required, otherwise some of the work we are doing by way of core services for the people we serve would have to perhaps be reduced. We do not want that to happen. I thank the Chair and members of the committee for the invitation to put forward the views of the local authority sector on this important topic. If there are questions, I will do my best to answer them. I think I have managed to say within five minutes.