Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am taking this matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Transport, Deputy Ryan. I thank Deputy Collins for raising the matter of the regulation of horse-drawn carriages for hire and reward within the Dublin area. The Minister has asked me to use this opportunity to outline how this issue came about and to set out the work under way with Dublin City Council to resolve this issue.

As stated by the Deputy, in February 2011, Dublin City Council took over from the Garda Carriage Office responsibility for the licensing of horse-drawn carriage operators and drivers. This was achieved through by-laws enacted under Part 19 of the Local Government Act 2001 which provides a general power to local authorities to make by-laws relating to its property or services or to regulate matters of local concern. It is under this Act that local authorities can choose, using by-laws, to regulate horse-drawn carriages that operate for hire or reward within their functional areas. These by-laws allow relevant local authorities to set their own rules and stipulations to govern such operations.

In 2018, Dublin City Council became aware that, specifically in the context of Dublin, the legal basis for making by-laws to regulate horse-drawn carriages was uncertain. Local authorities can only use their general by-law making powers for purposes not covered elsewhere in legislation. However, the power to regulate the business of horse-drawn carriages for hire or reward in Dublin was vested exclusively under the Dublin Carriage Acts 1853 to 1855 in the Dublin Metropolitan Police, the predecessor of An Garda Síochána. This is the legislation which gives rise to the lacuna mentioned by the Deputy.

Officials in the Department of Transport, in conjunction with colleagues in other Departments and the Office of the Attorney General, investigated the issue in 2019 and determined that the Dublin Carriage Acts would need to be repealed and replaced with legislation that affirms the power of local authorities to regulate this activity. Accordingly, in December 2019, the Government approved a proposal to draft a general scheme to make the necessary repeals and assert the power of local authorities in this area.

I should note that this issue relates solely to the power of Dublin City Council to regulate and license the business of horse-drawn carriages. I understand that equine welfare issues are often raised in conjunction with this topic, but I must clarify that equine welfare issues are entirely separate from the licensing lacuna. Animal welfare issues are a matter for the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine. The provisions of the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013, which relate to the welfare of and cruelty to animals, as well as the provisions of the Control of Horses Act 1996, continue to apply irrespective of whether a licensing regime for horse-drawn carriages is in place.

Noting that, it had been hoped originally that the licensing issue could have been progressed during 2020. Unfortunately, this was not possible due to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and the need to prioritise work associated with the national response to that pandemic. However, I am pleased to report on behalf of Minister, Deputy Ryan, that work on the development of the general scheme resumed this year. Officials in the Department of Transport are working closely with key stakeholders, including Dublin City Council, on the development of the legislation.

I recognise that some here today are frustrated by the time taken to resolve this particular issue in Dublin. However, the development of legislation of this nature, particularly when it involves the repeal of legislation which predates the foundation of the State, is complex and technical in nature and it can be quite difficult to give precise timelines for completion. It is also important to ensure nothing in the forthcoming legislative proposals inadvertently disturbs existing regimes elsewhere in the country, such as the long-established regime for jarveys in Killarney and around Killarney National Park. Nevertheless, I have been advised this work is progressing at pace as the number of legal issues left to be resolved is narrowed. Once these issues have been fully clarified, it would be the hope of the Minister, Deputy Ryan, that a general scheme would be published without delay. Naturally, the Minister will be in touch with the Chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications once the general scheme is published with a view to arranging pre-legislative scrutiny and to proceed with the resolution of this legal lacuna once and for all.

See this speech in context