Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)

The Minister cited the dog breeding working group but I have held meetings with dog breeders in County Wexford and it was amazing to hear how many concerns they expressed about this legislation. They informed me that very few of their recommendations were taken on board by the working group. They are concerned about becoming victims of crime because their dogs are potentially valuable resources. They fear that by posting signs all over the place they will make a list available to anybody who wants to snatch their dogs in the middle of the night. The Minister is making it too easy for thieves, bar giving them the keys to the establishments.

Other provisions of the Bill appeared to go against the spirit of the working group. For example, one section describes a bitch as beginning to breed at four months of age. Nobody breeds dogs at four months of age, however. The Bill also refers to a uniform breeding cycle for dogs but there is no such thing across all breeds.