Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to respond to the Deputy's Bill. For the record, I am the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht until an order is made to change the name and heritage has been part of my Department's remit for the past five years. In saying that the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht has responsibility for hare coursing, there are other responsibilities within my Department and they have been there for some time.

First, I will set out for the House the legislative framework under which hare coursing operates. The control of live hare coursing, including the operation of individual coursing meetings and managing the use of hares for that activity, is carried out under the Greyhound Industry Act 1958, which is the responsibility of my colleague, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Hare coursing is administered by the Irish Coursing Club, which is a body set up under the Greyhound Industry Act 1958. Hares are a protected species under the Wildlife Acts and may only be hunted by certain methods and during certain time periods as regulated under the open seasons order. The hunting methods allowed are shooting with firearms, coursing at regulated coursing matches and hunting with packs of beagles and harriers. Under this legislation hare coursing meetings are allowed between 26 September and the end of February of the following year. Licences are issued by my Department on an annual basis under the Wildlife Acts to the Irish Coursing Club, on behalf of their affiliated clubs, to facilitate the tagging and capturing of hares for the purpose of hare coursing during a given coursing season. The licences granted to the Irish Coursing Club include strict conditions which have been developed and refined over the years. My primary responsibility under the Wildlife Acts relates to the conservation of hares and that is why it falls under the heritage section of my Department.

In regard conservation, there is no current evidence that coursing has a significant effect on hare populations and the decision to issue licences has taken into consideration the final report of the status of hares in Ireland — Hare Survey of Ireland 2006/07, which estimated that the population of hares in Ireland was in the region of 535,000 in 2007.

In recent years, in considering licence applications from the Irish Coursing Club, my Department has taken account of the most recent conservation assessment in 2013 which was submitted to the European Commission on habitats and species. This report indicated that the Irish hare was considered widespread and common in Ireland and also stated that none of the threats, such as changing agricultural practices, are considered likely to impact on its conservation status in the foreseeable future.

Officials of the National Parks and Wildlife Service of my Department monitor coursing meetings, as resources allow, to ensure that the various conditions of the licences are adhered to. Veterinary officials from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine also attend some coursing meetings. In addition, the Irish Coursing Club ensures there is a veterinary and control steward present at all coursing meetings.

I should point out that since I took over responsibility for this area I have been active in ensuring that the conditions of the licences are enforced. For example, following the 2013-14 season, I threatened sanctions against two coursing clubs, Mallow and Liscannor, relating to non-co-operation with officials of my Department.

There have since been improvements in both clubs and this reflects the success in the monitoring regime in operation by my Department. In addition, I took further sanctions against two further clubs, Thurles and Doon, on foot of lack of co-operation with departmental officials during the 2014 and 2015 season. Subsequently, following a court conviction involving some Doon members, I was considering further sanctions against Doon when the Irish Coursing Club, ICC, cancelled the Doon meeting scheduled for last November. I welcome this decision by the ICC as it an indication of the seriousness with which it views the issue.

Those sanctions also highlight just how tightly controlled and regulated hare coursing is in Ireland. I remind the Deputies calling for an outright ban of the potential dangers of such action; it could drive coursing underground and the very real danger is that would result in unregulated coursing meetings, which would represent far greater dangers for the safety of hares. I know concerns have been raised that this has been the consequence of the ban in Northern Ireland. The Irish Coursing Club has applied for licences to capture and tag hares for the forthcoming 2016 and 2017 coursing season and these are under consideration. I am aware officials of my Department have raised a number of issues with the Irish Coursing Club following monitoring reports on meetings held during the 2015 and 2016 season. These matters will be further discussed at a meeting between officials of my Department and the Irish Coursing Club in the next few weeks. I do not rule out further sanctions against individual coursing clubs if it is warranted.

The Deputy's Bill is primarily aimed at the welfare of the hare. I assure the House that although my Department's primary responsibility relates to the conservation status of the Irish hare, many of the conditions attached to the licences issued by my Department to the ICC relate to the welfare of the hare. These strict conditions cover a range of areas on hare welfare and include providing data on hare captures and releases, having a veterinary surgeon in attendance at a coursing meeting, not coursing hares more than once per day, not coursing sick or injured hares, having adequate escapes for hares during coursing and releasing hares in daylight the day after the coursing meeting with the agreement of my officials.

The Irish Coursing Club also has extensive systems and practices in place to underpin the welfare of hares and greyhounds involved in coursing and it goes to great lengths to ensure the highest standards of welfare are adhered to. A monitoring committee on coursing is in place, comprising officials from my Department, the ICC and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, to monitor developments in coursing and in that regard, this issue is kept under constant review to ensure that coursing is run in a well-controlled and responsible manner in the interests of both hares and greyhounds. With respect to the muzzling of greyhounds, although it is a matter for my colleague, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, it is my understanding that the Irish Coursing Club has had mandatory muzzling of greyhounds at regulated coursing meetings since the early 1990s. The muzzling of greyhounds clearly assists in reducing the number of hare injuries.

Since my reappointment to Cabinet, the remit of my Department has been expanded to include both rural affairs and regional development. Members of the House will be aware that hare coursing is mainly a rural activity. There are between 70 and 80 meetings held around the country and in some cases, they attract thousands of people to rural towns. In many parts of the country, especially in Munster, it is an integral part of the sporting year. For example, the national hare coursing meeting in Clonmel attracts approximately 10,000 visitors and is estimated to be worth approximately €6 million to the local economy. Any proposal to ban live coursing would have a serious economic impact on such towns.

Our discussion is largely based around regulated coursing but in terms of conservation of the hare, there is a much greater issue to be considered, the practice of hare lurching, which appears to be on the increase in certain parts of the country. This illegal practice of hunting hares usually involves people entering farmland and bogs without permission, with one or more lurcher-type dogs. The number of people involved in the group can vary but usually groups of two to eight individuals are involved. The dogs are kept on leads and only released when a hare is flushed, whereupon the dogs chase and catch the hare, generally resulting in the death of the animal. The activity mostly occurs during daylight hours but may also take place at night. In many cases, it appears there are organised gangs involved in this illegal activity and many of them have no hesitation in using social media to display pictures of dead hares.

There have been a number of prosecutions in recent years taken by my Department and recently both my Department and an Garda Síochána have engaged in joint operations to apprehend individuals engaged in hare lurching and bring them to court. I understand that in some instances, it can be difficult to take prosecutions as some landowners may be reluctant to give evidence of illegal hunting on their lands due to intimidation or fear of reprisals. I do not have figures on the number of hares killed by illegal hare lurching but indications are that it could run into hundreds. I reiterate that it is this type of illegal activity that is far more harmful to hares than regulated coursing meetings.

I appreciate many individuals are opposed to hare coursing but, equally, for many rural communities, the activity is an integral part of their heritage. It is my job to find a balance. I have mentioned the muzzling of greyhounds as well as the conditions which my Department attaches to licences, all of which have demonstrated very positive outcomes for hares. My Department's responsibilities under the wildlife Acts relate to the conservation of the Irish hare and, as I have already stated, this is not under threat. The fact remains that due to the strict regulations in place, more than 99% of hares used in coursing are released back into the wild. I assure the House that my Department will continue to work with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the ICC to ensure the welfare of the hare is paramount during coursing meetings. I, therefore, recommend to the House that this Bill be rejected.

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