John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

I hardly think this constitutes an attack on traditional field sports and rural pastimes, as one of the recently formed organisations claimed. The vast majority of people involved in legal hunting in this country will have nothing to fear from the enactment of this Bill. My Department will still be issuing licences for deer hunting. Fox hunting is not affected by this Bill.

While I appreciate the hunt has been in operation for over 150 years, the banning of stag hunting with hounds does not necessarily mean the members of the hunt must give up hunting activities altogether. The hunt has the option of continuing their local hunting, perhaps as a drag hunt which would still allow them to use hounds.

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