Dr. Eoin Ryan:

The specifics of what will be in the proposed EU database are to be set out in delegated acts. In much of the technical detail that is not in this draft, there is provision for the nuts and bolts to be worked out subsequently, which is reasonable. What the Senator has just outlined is along the lines of what is being thought about. Whether that will be in the final one, I cannot say, but I know a large part of this is to facilitate enforcement of the rules on breeding bitches and pet sales. That is part of it, and the recitals and the draft very much talk about that. It is one of the reasons there is this very close link between identification, registration and breeding establishments. Things like record-keeping, inspections and having to say how many litters are placed on the market each year are all to support the enforcement piece.

While I cannot specifically answer "Yes" or "No", when we look at the recitals in the context of this regulation, it is very much of a piece that the reason for the emphasis on identification and registration is because there is an acceptance that without robust identification and registration, it is difficult to enforce these questions. A lot of the discussions have addressed the point of how we can know how many litters were associated with a certain establishment. That is part of what is envisioned here. I cannot answer specifically because the nuts and bolts have not been ironed out but that is definitely one of the directions of travel.