Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Yes, it will look at that. As I live on the Border, I am aware that there will be a ban on these dogs in Northern Ireland. It has already kicked in in the UK. It will be in place from the first week of July. We do not want to be out of kilter with Northern Ireland. There is no point in them being banned there and having a different arrangement south of the Border. However, we have to tease out how we will police and manage this and what it really means. It is okay to ban things, but it is about how we implement the ban and make sure it is achieved. It is true that any dog can bite a person, but the damage caused by XL bullies happens because their jaws lock and it is not possible to get them off. The history of the dogs is that they were bred to be aggressive. It is in their nature. I have said this before. I absolutely do not know why anyone would want to own an XL bully. That is being straight. They are bred to be aggressive and they are dangerous in my book.

I am not an expert on this issue. That is why there is a broad range of people on the stakeholder group and I have asked them to look at the matter in detail and come back to me with their recommendations. I will be happy to take those recommendations on board. It may mean banning the dogs and taking into consideration that they have been banned elsewhere. We are looking at other countries such as Denmark and France that have implemented similar bans. We will see what we learn from their experience of how those are working on the ground. I am happy to work with Deputies on this because it is a problem we all want to solve.

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