Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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I move:

That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to require the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to produce a report on the appointment of an emergency independent inspector for Dublin Zoo.

I am introducing this Bill in an effort to highlight a range of very serious issues at the zoo. None of them has been properly investigated, despite repeated attempts by concerned workers at the zoo to bring them to the attention, first, of management and HR and then of the Charities Regulator, the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS, and even An Garda Síochána. When journalists have asked questions about this, they have been met with legal letters. One journalist received no fewer than 11 legal letters, including a letter sent to their entire workplace. The issues include very serious animal welfare issues culminating in the deaths of numerous animals and the disappearance of whole species from the zoo. There are credible allegations of harassment, including sexual harassment, of zoo workers by managers. There are financial irregularities, of which I now have documentary proof, including the misallocation of funds raised in a Save Dublin Zoo appeal during Covid to build an extension to the zoo director's house. To cap it all, there was a lack of concern and a total lack of proper oversight by the State over any of this.

This is not some faceless bureaucratic organisation. This is a national institution loved by generations of children and their families who go there believing the animals they see are being well cared for and that by going to the zoo, they are contributing to the conservation of endangered species around the world. It gives me no pleasure to say that for some of these animals this is far from the truth. Over the past few years, I have spoken on multiple occasions to zoo workers who are outraged at the neglect and mistreatment of animals in the zoo. To be clear, in most cases this is down to understaffing and a lack of proper training. It is the fault of zoo management, not at all of the workers. A recent example is the deaths of all the African wild dogs. This is an endangered species about whom welfare concerns were raised three years ago by NPWS inspectors, and by me in this House. This time, welfare concerns raised by experienced zoo keepers were not investigated in time and all the dogs died. One dog had cancer in the mouth that was left untreated and had to be put down. Before it died, it got no medication or medical intervention. Another was pregnant and became very swollen. Her lungs and heart became filled with fluid. She never recovered after being administered an anaesthetic and she died. That species is now gone from the zoo. The same thing happened with the wolves, which were all put down after a health check. That is two whole species gone from the zoo. Other animal deaths have included four bongo antelopes and a black buck whose leg was snapped in half and left hanging on by a ligament after being inappropriately transported in a horse box. This is a very small, fragile antelope who should never have been moved so roughly. Last weekend, a pregnant cheetah was moved from Fota Wildlife Park to Dublin Zoo at Hallowe'en. She gave birth the next day and all the baby cubs are now dead. She should never have been moved when pregnant. Another incident I have raised in the past was the drugging of a family of elephants that were cruelly separated by zoo management. Two of them died from stress and the rest of the remaining herd developed herpes reactivated by stress.

Another serious problem at the zoo is harassment, including sexual harassment of workers and a refusal by HR to take appropriate action to protect staff. A female staff member repeatedly complained about being harassed by a male manager. He was eventually suspended for four months. During that time he was, on at least one occasion, sitting outside her house in a car late at night. This was reported to HR but nothing was done. When she returned to work, the manager followed her around in an intimidating manner. Nothing was done about that either. She was then the only person to be made redundant in the zoo while the male manager is still a senior member of staff. Last April, the same woman had a brick thrown through her front window. On a previous occasion, when I spoke about issues in Dublin Zoo in the Dáil, the tyres of her car were slashed. In another incident, three female members of staff were sexually harassed by a male manager at a conference. A subsequent HR investigation confirmed three instances of harassment. He is still a senior manager at the zoo.

The final set of issues relate to the misallocation of funds raised by a Save Dublin Zoo appeal during Covid. An investigation by the Charities Regulator found that some of those funds were used to build an extension to the then zoo director's house. I have a letter from the zoo released only under freedom of information admitting that the funds were used for this extension. I also have an email from the Charities Regulator stating that it would not publish the Covid funds investigation because "the publication of this information could be detrimental to the zoo's reputation". Even if it did its job properly, the Charities Regulator's remit is limited and does not extend to animal welfare. An entirely new system of independent oversight is urgently needed. I hope this Bill can be the first step in developing that.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Is the Bill being opposed?

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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No.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Since this is a Private Members' Bill, Second Stage must, under Standing Orders, be taken in Private Members' time.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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I move: "That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time".