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

I agree that it is not good enough. The Minister of State has expressed his deep concern at the issues that have been highlighted. However, those issues have been highlighted for years and it should not take an RTÉ exposé to make people aware or suddenly make the Government concerned. I have a letter here from 2016 that outlines these precise issues, which the ISPCA, Dogstrust Ireland, the Irish Blue Cross, and The Irish Council Against Blood Sports have also raised repeatedly. These issues have been raised repeatedly in this Dáil as well. The idea that the Minister of State did not know about it until it was on RTÉ is simply not credible.

The Minister of State stated that the Department does not issue certificates for the export of greyhounds to China or Pakistan. However, the Minister of State knows that greyhounds are first exported to the UK and then exported to those countries from there. The Minister of State and his Department know who is involved in that, because particular people are going around buying up greyhounds specifically for export to those countries.

I refer to knackeries. A knackery belonging to John Styles and his daughter featured in the RTÉ programme. He stated recently that he would not shoot any more dogs, which is an admission that he has done so in the past. The funding should be cut.

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