Ned O'Keeffe (Cork East, Fianna Fail)

I am pleased to speak on this Bill. Last week was an historic one in this House, having regard to the confusion that arose between the Wildlife (Amendment) Bill and the Dog Breeding Establishments Bill. I have never seen such confusion, with people failing to understand the difference between the two Bills. The confusion continued and the abuse we got in telephone call and e-mails was rough going. It was one of my toughest weeks in this House and it was due to confusion. In future when Bills of this nature are going through the House - the Wildlife (Amendment) Bill is different from the Dog Breeding Establishments Bill - they should be dealt with at separate times because people did not understand what these Bills were about. We heard they would bring about a ban on hare coursing and on live cattle exports - I never heard anything like it. I want to clearly make that point.

We have been in Government with the Green Party and I have enjoyed our term to date. The Green Party has done well under this Government. It is entitled to introduce its fair share of legislation and to have its fair crack of the whip in this respect. It has put through difficult legislation for my party and Government on banking, NAMA and many other areas. It was unfair of a small minority of people to make an attack on that party. I am glad that the Minister, Deputy Ryan, is here; he is an exceptional Minister. The Green Party has a different ideology from my party but, by and large, we work well. I look forward to my party finishing up with the Green Party in Government in probably two years' time and to our going to the country and perhaps being successful again.

The Dog Breeding Establishments Bill deals with regulating puppy farms and it long overdue. I am aware of a puppy farm where the pups were kept in deplorable conditions, they are subject to cruelty and live in squalor, the likes of which I had never seen. While I did not understand much about this area, anyone who is an animal lover - all rural people, by and large, are animal lovers - would be appalled by the conditions on that farm.

A former Minister, Deputy Roche, took this matter in hand, for which he has been admired, but he has moved from the Department before seeing the legislation introduced. The proposed legislation was inherited by the Minister, Deputy Gormley, and well done to him for introducing it.

During my almost 30 years as a Member of this House, some legislation has been introduced that has been offensive to animal lovers and to people involved in hunting. When the legislation providing for the muzzling of greyhounds was introduced, we thought the roof of the Chamber would come in on top of us, but the industry has thrived since its introduction and the coursing industry has also been very successful. People are always nervous of change but often change can be for the better. The coursing industry has become very valuable to the economy.

I fought a vigorous campaign in 1988 with the then Taoiseach, Charlie Haughey, and the then Minister, Padraig Flynn. Otter hunting occurred in only a small part country, mainly in north Cork on the River Bride and the River Funshion, which are tributaries of the River Blackwater. Otter hunting was banned and there were massive rows about it. I defended otter hunting as best I could at the time. I fought a hard battle on that with the then Minister, Padraig Flynn, and the then Taoiseach. The proposed legislation to ban otter hunting has originated from Europe and its introduction would have affected my area. We heard from the otter packs and specialist dog people, to whom Deputy Johnny Brady referred. They are still there but they do not hunt otter any more.

Wild mink have now taken over on the River Funshion and the River Bride and they are destroying the fish stock and water birds such as water hens and cormorants, which is the one regret I have about the banning of otter hunting. That did not happen when there was otter hunting because the people who were interested in such hunting maintained a discipline on the river and they also protected the otter species. They were animal lovers and even though they hunted otters they looked after them. I have land along the banks of the River Funshion and there are otters on that river bank but they are not cared for anymore. The river can flood and many things can happen along the river bank but there is no one to look after the otters. Those people cared for the otters even though they were wild animals. A danger in introducing animal welfare legislation is that the people who are involved in animal welfare do not have the same commitment to protecting wild species as the people to whom I referred.

Bord na gCon is a State agency and the chairman of the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Food is well aware of my views on that agency. It has stepped over the line. If Charlie Haughey, Jack Lynch or Liam Cosgrave were here, there would be a new board because of its behaviour. Members of this House, whether in Government or in Opposition, make policy and we look after the spending of the Exchequer funding, but when people from State agencies - for which this House is responsible - appearing before a committee come into a meeting tell me what to do, I take a serious view of such behaviour. I was shocked and appalled when people from Bord na gCon appearing before the committee in question, came in to talk about the Dog Breeding Establishments Bill and spent a considerable time doing so.

I told the delegate from Bord na gCon that that was my job, not his. The board stepped well over the line in its behaviour. I have seen State boards over the years dismissed and reappointed by Governments, and I am worried about the behaviour of this one. Its job is to look after the greyhound track industry. It has spoken about an estimate for the future, but I have strong reservations about its behaviour. It is also in conflict with the coursing industry because it does not want greyhounds racing in ordinary fields, whether in open coursing or park meetings. It should be funding the coursing industry but the problem is the stud book; the coursing industry controls the stud book and Bord na gCon wants to lay its hands on it. We have the same problem with draft horses because the sports horse industry wants to take over that stud book. The battle goes on between the ordinary people and the specialists. There is snobbery in the industry.

I am also concerned by Bord na gCon's expenditure, with €23 million spent on a race track at Markets Field in Limerick. State resources are being used to build a large glasshouse at a time when we are stretched dealing with Anglo Irish Bank and other issues. That amount of money would be better spent in the interests of social welfare recipients and users of the public health system. The money is already committed but it should have been reviewed two years ago when the country was on the eve of a crisis. I know the Markets Field in Limerick as well as anybody here. As a boy of ten or 11 years of age, I sold calves in that field. It was a valuable market at that time in the west, with herefords - or whiteheads, as they were known - being bought and sold in April and May. As I said, Bord na gCon has gone over the top in its behaviour. It should not be in the business of corporate entertainment; its job is to look after the greyhound industry, not to be grilling steaks and cooking chickens and ducks.

It is certainly time for the Greyhound Industry Act 1958 to be updated. It has served its purpose well but it has been in place for more than 50 years. Much of this legislation crosses over between agriculture and the environment. I welcome that we have found a way to take greyhounds out of this legislation by making necessary changes to the 1958 Act. I do not understand the strong opposition that exists to micro-chipping. Deputy Bannon spoke earlier about swine, bovines and so on. It ultimately comes down to the fact that people do not like change. Just as tagging, recording and inspections have been introduced at farm level in the bovine industry, the other industries will have to accept it too.

I do not want to boast about my own area, but I am fairly certain we have the largest number of park meetings of coursings in the country. We also have a greyhound track in our constituency. We have the famous Duhallow Hounds, the Avondhu, and the Coolnakilla Harriers which is a very famous harrier organisation that has won national prizes. The latter is very controlled and disciplined in its activities. We also have Ballymacoda, a famous place for open coursing. In defence of these and other organisations, I say there is noting to fear from this legislation. However, it is inevitable that somebody will abuse the system.

Dog licensing is very welcome given that dog fighting is becoming such a problem. People are keeping dogs larger than calves in many housing estates, with neighbours living in fear. We must clamp down on that because it is encouraging dog fighting. I will not name the areas where these dangerous dogs are most often found because that would be unfair to residents, but it seems to be a particular problem in new housing estates. These dogs are a threat to society and to human beings. I am holding clinics tomorrow in a particular area and an urban councillor there has promised to take me into a housing estate to show me what is happening. Local authority representatives in these areas are constantly receiving complaints.

I thank the Minister, Deputy Ryan, for taking this debate. His party and mine are partners in government and I work well with him and his colleagues. I have no criticisms to make of his party. Some of the criticism of the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Gormley, has been grossly unfair. I have never had a problem meeting the Minister, and he was quite willing to meet with deputations I have brought to him. I am probably seen by some as one of the more awkward people in this House, although perhaps I am not so bad, but the Minister has always been willing to meet me and discuss my concerns. I say well done to him and I look forward to meeting him down in Duhallow.

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