Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

The need for the establishment of a working group to examine legislation for the regulation of dog breeding establishments is borne out of a concern for an area that falls outside mainstream animal breeding, which is open to much abuse. In the same way as turkey and brussels sprouts farmers, many of these people see Christmas as the golden time to sell. We see what happens when dogs are given to children as Christmas presents and end up on the road, in the wild or in animal welfare pounds by the middle of January.

With that in mind, a working group was set up in October 2004. It brought together many of the people involved in dog breeding establishments to try to bring to heel those who abuse animals purely for unscrupulous commercial purposes in the same way as dog fighting, which was carried out in the past and probably continues under the radar in the black economy. The group held four meetings over a two-year period and came up with draft recommendations. Since the autumn session, I have asked the Minister when he was going to publish those recommendations and his own recommendations.

One thing was clear. In its deliberations, there were areas that were outside the terms of reference which came up for discussion, one of which is the need to introduce microchipping to assist gardaí and dog wardens in identifying animals. This may present problems for legitimate breeders who want to sell their animals abroad.

The group identified the need for but did not have the authority to recommend that the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government carry out a review of the Control of Dogs Act and that the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food carry out a review of the Protection of Animals Act and the duty of care associated with that in the same way as for mainstream farming. It also identified the need for better education. This goes back to the Christmas or birthday buzz people get from buying their children a dog they are unable to take care of. It also looked at ways of reducing the number of animals that must be put down annually by way of spaying and neutering and highlighted the need to encourage that.

We do not want to see this legislation brought in purely on foot of the recommendations because it is not the complete picture. This area is to be transferred to the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. In reality, that may not happen before these regulations are put in place. This must be brought back before the House to be debated because all of those other areas must be brought into the pot before we get proper legislation.

There are people out there who have large-scale puppy farms with thousands of animals. I am not exaggerating. If this was implemented as legislation, it would not be possible to control these people. The ISPCA says that it cannot take the animals into its care, while the gardaí say it is the responsibility of the ISPCA, which does not have the resources. If there is an outbreak of disease or other animal welfare issue affecting large animals, we are able to organise a cull for the greater good of animals and animal welfare.

We must bring the recommendations of this committee back to the House for further discussion to try to fine tune them and make it a comprehensive piece of law before it is put on the Statute Book. Is it the aim of the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to bring it back here to be discussed? What is the timeframe for transferring responsibility in this area to the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food? Will the Departments of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Environment, Heritage and Local Government set up an interdepartmental think tank because that is needed? Will this happen before legislation is introduced? We do not want to see these regulations published one day, which the Minister seemingly has the right to do, without coming back here to be discussed as primary legislation.

See this speech in context