Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I recognise that there are strong views on this issue. For some, hare coursing is an unacceptably cruel practice. For others, it is not. It is part of parish and club life and their upbringing with greyhounds and so on. There is a balance I must strike as a Minister in the Bill.

It is important to record, for people who have never been to a coursing meeting - as I have not - that veterinary staff from my Department and rangers from the National Parks and Wildlife Service carry out random monitoring inspections during the coursing season to verify compliance with licences and rules governing animal welfare. Everybody - even those who would like coursing to be banned - will recognise that over the last ten years, we have moved significantly towards clearer rules and regulations on adherence to animal welfare standards, linking those to the licensing of hare coursing. As a further control, a monitoring committee on coursing was established during the 1993-94 coursing season, comprised of officials from my Department and representatives from the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the Irish Coursing Club, to monitor developments in coursing. The situation is therefore kept under constant review to ensure that coursing is run in a controlled and responsible manner in the interests of hares and greyhounds alike.

Some people assume there is a significant mortality rate among hares used for coursing. It is important to record that a very high proportion of hares captured for coursing are returned to the wild. During the 2011-12 season, 97.3% of hares caught for coursing were returned to the wild.

See this speech in context