Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

That is a disgraceful answer. The Bill was moved many months ago. Every Deputy has received numerous emails about it, yet the Minister says that he has not seen it. It is a repeat of the Bill that he voted for in 2005. It is the exact same.

I am giving the Government time, as it has 19 days left to consider the matter before we move Second Stage. Will it be a laggard on animal rights, which Ireland currently is, or will it agree to support the Bill? Alternatively, will it do what it did with circus animals, an issue on which Solidarity had a Bill pending, when it made a ministerial order to ban the use of wild animals in circuses? At the time in November 2017, the Minister, Deputy Creed, stated that doing so was the general view of the public at large and that the ban was a progressive move reflective of our commitment to animal welfare. The exact same statement applies to mink and fur farming, as 80% of people believe it to be wrong. It is thoroughly backward, there is no justification for it and the farms in question are hardly making a profit at this point. Fine Gael must do the right thing now after not doing so for 14 years.

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