John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

I do not propose to accept this amendment as it would exclude the provision for appointing as authorised officer a person connected with animal welfare, with whom an arrangement has been entered into under section 15(3) of the Control of Dogs Act 1986. Many local authorities have sub-contracted dog control services and such arrangements have worked very successfully. There are numerous safeguards in the Bill as regards authorised persons, the first being that the local authority has to appoint the person. Local authorities have proven very responsible in this regard and I have no reason to believe they will not act responsibly in the future.

The second safeguard is that an improvement order can only be issued by a veterinary officer employed by the local authority. Therefore I do not propose to accept this amendment.

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