Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

I could have told the Minister that he would say that because, unfortunately, that is what he has said repeatedly, word for word, in response to every question on this issue for a long period. Will he take into account the policy of the expert, Veterinary Ireland? It states it is not possible to farm mink in a way that is not incredibly cruel. It has a very useful table outlining the conditions of mink in the wild: they are solitary animals; have territories ranging between 1 sq. km and 3 sq. km; are semi-aquatic; and stereotypes do not occur in nature. By comparison, farmed mink live in close proximity to other mink and cannot avoid abnormal social contact. They spend their entire lives in wire-mesh battery cages, typically measuring 90 cm by 30 cm by 45 cm, and cannot run, swim, dive or hunt, preventing them from exhibiting basic natural behaviours. Depriving them of swimming water is the equivalent to the stress caused in being deprived of food. There are 200,000 mink at any one time in Ireland. Some 150,000 are killed per year. There is no way this can be done in a way that is not barbaric to produce what is only a luxury product made for profit. Does the Minister accept that he should change the position he has held from 2011 and accept that fur farming should be banned?

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