Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his reply. I know from the sentiments he expressed that he will look at the issues raised in the "RTÉ Investigates" programme last night and deal with them appropriately.

To be fair, the Department has provided a significant increase in funding for local authorities and animal welfare charities in recent years but the images last night are quite stark, as the Minister has expressed. The fundamental issue ? traceability and the licensing of horses needs to be investigated fully and powers need to be strengthened. This is something I have raised with the Minister. I have a Bill, which I have not yet submitted, which I had circulated to the Minister’s special adviser. Something has to change in the licensing and tracing of horses. It is estimated that anything up to a third of all horses in the country are unregistered for various reasons.

I acknowledge the Minister’s comments and will follow up afterwards with a supplementary.

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