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

I pay great credit to the "RTÉ Investigates" team for their work. I was dreading the programme because I knew what it was going to show. I knew because practically everything in the programme has been raised by myself and other Deputies continually for a number of years. I feel like saying "We told you so".

Recently, our amendments to ban the export of greyhounds to countries such as China and Pakistan, which have no animal welfare, were defeated. Our arguments were based on evidence and facts.

I wish to refer to a letter written to the Minister in 2016, copies of which were sent to Bord na gCon, as it was then, and the Chinese ambassador. It contained information from the three main welfare groups in Ireland and international welfare groups about how any greyhounds going from here to places such as Macao were going to certain death, not to mention the cruelty and abuse they would suffer beforehand. I made reference at the joint committee and in the Chamber to the numbers of Irish greyhounds on studbooks and breeding establishment books in China. I mentioned the fact that rescue groups which take our greyhounds back from these countries do not want them to come back to Ireland such is the possibility of abuse here. It was the Irish Greyhound Board that looked for export permissions in 2011. We are not talking about a minority group here; it is the majority of greyhound owners who are abusive towards their animals.

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