John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

Will any Member on the Government benches empathise with the plight and suffering of these caged animals? I will not go into the gruesome details of how these animals are killed. However, those who can justify such cruelty must be very sick indeed. No amount of regulation can make this practice more acceptable or less cruel.

One can judge how civilised a society is by how it treats its animals. By rejecting this enlightened legislation, Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats are happy for this barbaric practice to continue. These animals are not suffering because they provide food for people. They are being mistreated and tortured for nothing more than status and vanity.

The Minister and others have suggested this legislation would have a negative impact on rural Ireland. That is absolute nonsense and she knows it.

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