Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As the Deputy is aware, we are obliged to operate within EU legislation and our own animal welfare legislation of 2013. Since the review was conducted, we have, in fact, strengthened the legal framework within which fur farmers operate. According to figures I have seen, about which I cannot be definitive, there are in excess of 100 people working in the industry in Ireland. That cannot simply be disregarded as an irrelevance in the context of what the Deputy is asking for. Other countries have paid substantial compensation to close down fur farms. Other countries have banned fur farming, although they never had it. Such a measure is used to prove or maintain momentum in this area, but it is not as simple or straightforward as the Deputy suggests.

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