Tony Gregory (Dublin Central, Independent)

Will the Minister of State answer the question tabled? What is the status of the deer hunted by the Ward Union Hunt? Do the Minister of State, his advisers and officials, believe they are domesticated farmed tame deer, as we all know them to be, or are they wild? As the Minister of State has referred to section 26(1) of the Wildlife Act, does he not agree that the Long Title of and the Preamble to that Act specifically state that the legislation deals exclusively with wild animals? If the Minister grants licences to the Ward Union Hunt to hunt farmed tame domesticated deer, does the Minister of State not accept he is in breach of the Protection of Animals Act 1911, which expressly forbids terrorising or causing unnecessary suffering to any domesticated animal?

See this speech in context