John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

Not only did the people on the working group do first year in veterinary medicine, they were veterinary experts. That is the reason they were in the working group in the first place. The amendment would have the effect of not including any bitch less than two years old. That is the key issue. It is fairly incredible that the Senators could envisage a Bill to regulate puppy farms which would exclude breeding bitches under two years of age. The proposed amendment would, in fact, legalise the abuse of dogs. It would incentivise breeders to breed bitches as early and as often as possible before the dog reaches two years of age. That is a fact.

I signalled on Committee Stage that I would be willing to change the definition to six months. That will allow further time for owners of a newborn litter of pups to decide whether to sell or retain the pups. Heretofore, once the pups reached four months in age and were capable of breeding, each bitch pup would have been reckonable for registration purposes. My amendment will effectively extend the period to six months. I do not propose to accept this amendment.