Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)

I thank the Minister for responding to this question and I raise it in the wider context of animal welfare. My problem regarding all questions relating to animal welfare is that they are passed from one Department to another. When I asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government about the issue of feral cats, a real problem in suburban areas, he responded that it was not an important matter and it fell off the end of the list. These are genuine animal welfare queries that must relate to some Department in which there is a person with overall responsibility.

The last year for which we have data is 2002 when 41,000 animals were used in experiments in Ireland without anaesthetics and account must be taken of this. It may be that this represents best practice in the area, but we must examine how such issues can be addressed. Procedures are in place for testing and measuring the severity of adverse effects and I wonder why we do not take a more proactive stance.

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