Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Not granting a licence this year would certainly have ensured better acknowledgement of the conditions. It was horrifying to read the reports. As the Minister said, the lack of co-operation and the incidence of intimidation were specifically mentioned in one report while the other report mentioned serious issues. The ranger was unable to verify if a number of hares had been released, 39 hares were unaccounted for and the ranger had no idea what had happened to those.

There are serious issues around coursing and I am very well-known for being against live hare coursing. Reports from previous years indicate the occurrence of serious breaches and the only way to bring home the point and to ensure serious breaches do not occur is for licences to be revoked. Will the Minister consider this and bear in mind that Ireland is one of a very small minority of countries that allow live hare coursing? Will the Department consider an investigation into the use of drag hare coursing, as is the case in other countries?

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