Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)

I move amendment No. 1:

In page 3, before section 2, to insert the following new section:

2.—This Act does not apply to any matter regulated by the Greyhound Industry Acts 1958 and 1993.".

The commentary and contributions of the past 15 to 20 minutes constitutes the opening chapter on why I tabled this amendment. The amendment is self-explanatory. Is highly disingenuous for the Minister to state this stuff is being introduced by Members on this side of the House. The reason this debate is taking place is because last Friday, during the Second Stage debate, the Minister was at pains to talk about the greyhound industry, the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and amendments to the 1958 Act. The interpretation that arose from that debate was that the Minister had made a wise decision, having got himself into a bundle of knots in recent months on what should have been a simple Bill. In fact, this legislation should simply have coasted under the radar through the House to deal with the scandal of puppy farming in Ireland. However, in his wisdom, the Minister decided to broaden the scope of the Bill. Moreover, he sent signals to the greyhound industry and to the Hunting Association of Ireland. I refer to a letter he sent to Deputy Dermot Ahern in 2008.

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