Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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Táim buíoch don deis atá agam labhairt ar an ábhar seo agus go bhfuil an tAire i láthair. There has been clear expert advice from scientists at the National Parks and Wildlife Service that the RHD2 virus could potentially wipe out the entire hare population. The hare is iconic in our culture. The virus is highly contagious and we have the facts in that regard. It was first reported in China, where it killed millions of animals within the first year of its discovery. In 2010 a virulent strain emerged in France, similar to the one in Spain. Within a few days of infection what was seen was partial paralysis, bleeding from the eyes and mouth, convulsions and fits, with the animal then dying. Distress among hares and rabbits has also been witnessed in Ireland where the RHD2 virus has appeared I think animals have tested positive in eight counties. On 24 September the Minister's own words were:

Based on what we have been able to establish over the last 7 weeks, [the virus] appears to be widespread in Ireland ... It is known to be highly contagious and easily spread and environmental contamination presents significant difficulties in terms of any biosecurity responses ... Netting and collecting hares for coursing meetings has been identified as a significant risk factor in spreading the disease.

We know that rabbits and hares are vital to the wild ecosystem. The National Parks and Wildlife Service has stated, "Should this disease [be] as infectious and lethal here as it has [been] in Europe, the impact on the [Irish] hare could be catastrophic." On 10 October the Minister's words were that "the catching of hares in nets, their transportation in boxes and the collection and holding of hares in confined areas [will] increase the risk," all very clear signs that the right decision was made when she suspended the hare netting licence. In spite of this and other outbreaks, she lifted the suspension. It was obvious there had been lobbying by Deputies in her party, Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin and the rural alliance. I know that we are talking about a few Deputies in each group because when we debated my Bill to ban live hare coursing, I had Deputies from all parties come to tell me that they wanted to support the Bill but that, because of the Whip, they were not able to do so.

I ask the Minister to imagine a greyhound owner finding a sick or infected hare captured for coursing. Does she think the greyhound owner will contact the National Parks and Wildlife Service? It would not be in his or her interests to do so, even though it is a condition of the licence, because coursing would be stopped. I ask that all live hare coursing meetings, including those involving hares in captivity at compounds, be monitored closely.

In a reply to former Deputy Clare Daly the Minister said she would re-evaluate open coursing. Her understanding was that in open coursing hares "are not captured" but just happened to be there when the owners and the greyhounds arrived. There is video footage evidence of 19 hares who just happened to be in an area when the greyhounds arrived with their owners. Have open coursing meetings ever been monitored? I ask that the open coursing meetings on the 2019-20 fixtures list be closely monitored by the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

"Reckless" is the word I would use to describe the Minister's U-turn on the decision to issue licences. We are now into the 16-week coursing season, which allows courses to capture hares in the so-called unaffected areas. Is the Minister 100% confident that all other counties, apart from the eight where rabbits and hares have tested positive, are clear of the disease? The hare is normally a solitary animal. Netted for coursing and kept in a confined space, it is in ideal conditions to spread the virus, something the Minister is now allowing to happen. There is an alternative to live hare coursing, namely, drag coursing. A recent RED C poll found that 77% of Irish people agreed that live hare coursing should be banned, with 9% disagreeing and 14% stating they did not know.

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. It is important to be aware of the potential impact of the RHD2 virus and my original decision in August to suspend the licences to the Irish Coursing Club on foot of the outbreak of the virus, which was confirmed in wild rabbits and hares. The Deputy eloquently set out the reasons and my words.

As the Deputy mentioned, the disease was first reported in domestic or farmed rabbits in 1984 in China where it killed millions of animals within one year of its discovery. As the Deputy also mentioned, in 2010 a new and more virulent strain of the virus known as RHD2 emerged in France. It causes death. The Deputy set out very explicitly the symptoms involved which are quite distressing. Most distressingly, before the animal dies, there are fits and convulsions which are very upsetting to witness. The virus has been detected throughout Europe in wild rabbits and hares. As the Deputy said, the hare is iconic and native to Ireland. Should the disease prove to be as infectious or lethal here as it has elsewhere in Europe, the impact on the hare population would be catastrophic, something I absolutely accept.

RHD2 has been seen in wild rabbits in the UK for a few years and the brown hare has also been hit by RHD2 in the UK. A single record of RHD2 was reported from a wild rabbit in Cork in 2016 but no further records were confirmed in the wild here until last August, when two records came from rabbits, one in Wicklow and the other in Clare. The first positive report for an Irish hare was on 9 August, an animal found dying in the Wexford Wildfowl Reserve. There is no cure for this disease and although pet rabbits can be vaccinated against the disease, it has not been tested on hares. There would, clearly, be significant difficulties in vaccinating animals in the wild. There are approximately 250,000 hares in Ireland in addition to approximately 2 million rabbits.

Hares are solitary animals and the scientific advice available to me at the time indicated that the catching of hares in nets, transporting them in boxes and keeping them in confined areas like coursing hare parks can all be considered to increase the risk of disease spread. In these circumstances, and given my responsibilities specifically for the conservation status of the Irish hare, I decided to suspend the licences issued to the Irish Coursing Club on 9 August to capture and tag hares for the season until we had a clear understanding of the extent, spread and implications of the RHD2 virus. Members will be aware that licences under the Wildlife Acts are required by the Irish Coursing Club, on behalf of their affiliated clubs, to facilitate the netting and tagging of hares for closed park meetings.

Since these initial incidents, a request for public involvement has led to more than 75 reports of dead rabbits and hares across the country. Each report has been followed up vigilantly by the local National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS, rangers. RHD2 has been confirmed in four hares found in Dublin and Wexford and 21 rabbits found in counties Carlow, Clare, Cork, Kildare, Leitrim, Meath, Offaly, Tipperary, Wexford and Wicklow. Since the suspension of Irish Coursing Club licences on 9 August, discussions have been ongoing between the NPWS, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Irish Coursing Club on the impact of this virus. I recently issued revised licences to allow the netting and tagging of hares but there are specific restrictions and conditions explicitly attached to the issue of those licences. The capturing of hares and coursing activity is prohibited in areas within a 25-kilometre radius of where wild rabbits or hares have tested positive for the virus. New zones will be added on an ongoing basis if further positive tests arise and, in these new zones, the capturing of hares will have to cease immediately and coursing will only be possible with already captured hares, where the hares are certified in writing by a veterinary surgeon as being healthy, as such hares will only be released on foot of such certification. This has already impacted on some coursing events.

Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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I thank the Minister for her very graphic answer, which has confirmed the need to have suspended the licences and continue the suspension. The Minister has an awful lot of faith in the Irish Coursing Club and the advocates of coursing to report a diseased hare if they come across one. It will not be in their best interests to do so.

I read about the roadmap the Minister had been drawing up on this and I was struck by the extent of the work that is involved in this, with the field studies, tests, secure paddocks, CCTV, micro-chipping, nominated personnel to monitor this and a scientific literary review of the respective impact of RHD1 and RHD2. I wonder what the additional cost will be, as opposed to a straightforward ban on netting.

I know the Minister met Deputies and lobbies who are pro-coursing. I wonder if she facilitated those who are against coursing and also gave them time to put their points to her.

Was the Minister informed that if the suspension was not lifted, it could lead to a cull of those greyhounds that course, because such greyhounds are not really suitable for re-homing?

The Irish Coursing Club has said it will vaccinate the hares it captures against the disease but no vaccination will protect hares from being mauled, tossed and euthanised after a coursing meeting. While the vaccination is licensed in Europe, I do not believe it is available in Ireland and applies only to rabbits, not to hares. Of course, the lovely irony is that the Irish Coursing Club is going to continue to liaise with the NPWS and work to protect the status of the Irish hare. I note the use of the word "status". It is not referring to the survival or well-being of the hare, but then we know that the club is responsible for the injuries and deaths of many Irish hares and we have the facts on that.

Reissuing the licences was a retrograde step and I hope it will not come back to haunt us and mean the end of the iconic Irish hare.

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy and appreciate her concerns. Suffice to say that, from my own perspective, protecting the conservation status of the hare is my primary concern. I must ensure a balanced response from Government to this particular issue. It should assuage her concerns somewhat that strict conditions have been set down. The Irish Coursing Club vet has to certify in writing that all the hares that are captured are healthy. The number of courses will be reduced proportionately. As for the number that can be coursed, it can only be done twice. These trials and field tests that are ongoing should give us a clearer picture as to the status and condition of the hares and rabbits.

No new hares have tested positive since the beginning of October and that is important. Field tests are ongoing in Limerick, Tipperary, Cork and Cavan town and will take ten weeks to conclude. It is important that we brought the Irish Coursing Club onboard, together with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine in order that we had a collaborative approach to dealing with this.

I am satisfied that there is swabbing, tagging and microchipping and that the certification is in writing. All of these things should ensure that we can serve the population of the hare. The hare is not at risk in Ireland at the moment, there are 250,000 of them in the country and there is no reason why that should change. There are also 29 conditions attached generally to the licences for coursing, including an insistence on not coursing sick or injured hares. These are additional conditions. If it turns out that more hares test positive, we will have to review these licences again. It is constantly being monitored.

My door is always open to talk to both the pro-coursing and anti-coursing sides in trying to achieve a balance.