Results 101-120 of 13,004 for speaker:Louise O'Reilly

Committee on Public Petitions and the Ombudsmen: Petition on Reform of Pet Laws (30 Sep 2025)

Louise O'Reilly: Yes.

Committee on Public Petitions and the Ombudsmen: Petition on Reform of Pet Laws (30 Sep 2025)

Louise O'Reilly: Exactly.

Committee on Public Petitions and the Ombudsmen: Petition on Reform of Pet Laws (30 Sep 2025)

Louise O'Reilly: There is an element of responsibility on the person buying the dog and the person selling the dog, but separate from those two transactions, there is an onus on us also in a broader sense to start to do this. An information campaign, as suggested by the witnesses, would be valuable. To be fair to the committee, this is part of it. We are glad that they are here.

Committee on Public Petitions and the Ombudsmen: Petition on Reform of Pet Laws (30 Sep 2025)

Louise O'Reilly: To be fair, the Senator was not suggesting that is anything other than a part of-----

Committee on Public Petitions and the Ombudsmen: Petition on Reform of Pet Laws (30 Sep 2025)

Louise O'Reilly: What we are hearing from you is that there needs to be a multilayered response.

Committee on Public Petitions and the Ombudsmen: Petition on Reform of Pet Laws (30 Sep 2025)

Louise O'Reilly: We absolutely take that on board.

Committee on Public Petitions and the Ombudsmen: Petition on Reform of Pet Laws (30 Sep 2025)

Louise O'Reilly: They are overwhelmed.

Committee on Public Petitions and the Ombudsmen: Petition on Reform of Pet Laws (30 Sep 2025)

Louise O'Reilly: That would have to be part of any awareness campaign because I genuinely think that people do not know. I have a few questions to ask. I will not keep our guests very much longer. I read a study a number of years ago in relation to the fact that we do not quantify. By the way, I am a cat person.

Committee on Public Petitions and the Ombudsmen: Petition on Reform of Pet Laws (30 Sep 2025)

Louise O'Reilly: I did dislike dogs, to be fair. I read a study which indicated that governments or whomever is responsible should be looking at the quantity of pet food that is sold as an indication. If we were to measure the amount of pet food that is sold against the number of licences, I imagine that we would be talking about a very small number, on the one hand, and a large amount, on the other. That...

Committee on Public Petitions and the Ombudsmen: Petition on Reform of Pet Laws (30 Sep 2025)

Louise O'Reilly: We do not measure it. I ask for the witnesses' thoughts on the pet food. I also have another question. It is to do with dogs stolen to order. We need to emphasise that this is an activity related to the type of crime we see covered under the heading of gangland or organised crime. It is a serious element of that. It is not a small thing. It is part of a wider criminal enterprise. You...

Committee on Public Petitions and the Ombudsmen: Petition on Reform of Pet Laws (30 Sep 2025)

Louise O'Reilly: No, it was a British magazine. It was a British study.

Committee on Public Petitions and the Ombudsmen: Petition on Reform of Pet Laws (30 Sep 2025)

Louise O'Reilly: There is a big gap. That was my point. You have to be using something to measure it. If there are dog licences for 1,000 dogs, but pet food is sold to feed 50,000 dogs, then you know there is a gap. We should be using other mechanisms to look at how we quantify the sheer number of pets out there.

Committee on Public Petitions and the Ombudsmen: Petition on Reform of Pet Laws (30 Sep 2025)

Louise O'Reilly: That is a good way to do it.

Committee on Public Petitions and the Ombudsmen: Petition on Reform of Pet Laws (30 Sep 2025)

Louise O'Reilly: We should explore that a little, if you can.

Committee on Public Petitions and the Ombudsmen: Petition on Reform of Pet Laws (30 Sep 2025)

Louise O'Reilly: We cannot say enough about education, information and raising awareness. To be fair, we should come at it from the perspective that most people want to do the right thing. Most people love their pets and want to protect them. Even most people who do not have pets think there should be rules in place to ensure pets and companion animals are protected. People maybe think there is a lot more...

Committee on Public Petitions and the Ombudsmen: Petition on Reform of Pet Laws (30 Sep 2025)

Louise O'Reilly: If it sounds too good to be true, it generally is.

Committee on Public Petitions and the Ombudsmen: Petition on Reform of Pet Laws (30 Sep 2025)

Louise O'Reilly: That is a good call.

Committee on Public Petitions and the Ombudsmen: Petition on Reform of Pet Laws (30 Sep 2025)

Louise O'Reilly: That point is well made, but notwithstanding the occasion, it is a good point to make that there is that link between pet theft and criminality without naming any particular venue at all.

Committee on Public Petitions and the Ombudsmen: Petition on Reform of Pet Laws (30 Sep 2025)

Louise O'Reilly: No, but that is not to say this is not happening; it is.

Committee on Public Petitions and the Ombudsmen: Petition on Reform of Pet Laws (30 Sep 2025)

Louise O'Reilly: When we talk about the link between pet theft and criminality, we are talking about monitoring the situation in the same way we have to monitor all forms of criminal activity. The point is well made. We should be careful about naming specific websites and talking too much about them, only because for every one we name, there are ten that we do not name. Let us be fair.