Denis Landy (Labour)

I welcome the Minister of State. I do not intend to go back over the statistics so eloquently mentioned by other Members. It is important that this legislation has been published, as opposed to its measures being lumped in with others included in the previous legislation. There are two separate issues: the greyhound industry and the welfare of dogs are different matters. I commend the consultation with various agencies, including the Irish Coursing Club, the Irish Greyhound Board, Veterinary Ireland, the Dog Trust and the Association of City and County Managers. I have said to every Minister that where an issue is relevant to local authorities and their members, their organisation should be consulted. The executives of the organisations mentioned may be consulted but the elected members of county councils are not. Perhaps it is not yet too late to seek their input.

This is good legislation which I commend to the House. However, it is not perfect. There are a couple of issues on which I would like the Minister of State to comment.

Senator Rónán Mullen spoke about the greyhound industry and its importance to rural Ireland. It is of great importance, as I will highlight through a little story. Last Sunday week I was at a point to point meeting in Kilsheelan, outside Clonmel. The first man I met was a retired farmer who had come back from coursing a dog in Thurles and was waiting to see a horse trained by Ted Walsh. That horse won on the day at odds of 4/6. The next person I met was an unemployed young man. As we were going out the gate and he got into his car, he said he was heading home to get a dog ready to run in Clonmel that night. That takes in both ends of the generational divide. The two men were sustained in their lives by their involvement in the dog industry in one way or another. That is more important than any economic benefit in the current economic climate, when people are on their knees financially, because there is something to cling on to. It is a special community. I am lucky enough to live in a part of the country that is home to dogs, Carrick-on-Suir. The famous saying about Carrick-on-Suir is that it is known for a dog or a man. My father bred greyhounds and I have been involved in many syndicates during the years, in which I have had very little luck. However, I have an innate knowledge of and interest in the industry.

What is being introduced is very good and has been well thought out. The provisions dealing with the amounts of litters, the age of bitches and the use of the stud book, as well as stipulating that a breeding premises should have four or more bitches, are very important. Somebody mentioned seeing people walking one or two dogs in the morning and evening; that is the lifeblood of many involved in the industry. In my home town of Carrick-on-Suir there is an unemployment rate of 18% and practically every second house has a dog or two, with a bitch breeding or yelping down a litter for a neighbour. It is extremely important, therefore, not to be heavy-handed and inflict registration fees on those who cannot afford it. A happy balance has been struck in the legislation.

I have a couple of questions, the first of which relates to section 15 which deals with the removal of greyhound breeding establishments from the register. It deals with people who have, in one way or another, breached the terms of legislation. As I read it, there is no provision in the Bill to remove the offenders permanently from the industry, which is extremely important. It is important to safeguard the industry and its reputation while sending a strong signal to the very small minority of breeders who do not perform their functions properly. It will stop them in their tracks. We come across such people in all walks of life who just do not obey the law. We often see it in horse-related industries in which some horses can endure misery. In the horse racing industry there are provisions to ban people from engaging in further activity within the industry. I suggest the Minister of State consider taking similar action in this section.

Section 17 indicates that local authorities may appoint welfare officers. In the main, local authorities do not have the wherewithal or resources to employ extra staff because of the requirement to keep staff numbers as they are. Under the Control of Dogs Act, they employ dog wardens. I ask the Minister of State to extend the role of the dog warden in order that he or she would act as the welfare officer for the greyhound industry within the geographical area of the local authority concerned. That would be a good and sensible piece of work. The Minister of State responded to this issue in the Lower House in which he made the point that the amount of work required to be done by the local authority would be minimal as the officers of the Greyhound Board and the Irish Coursing Club already dealt with the matter.

Section 17 also indicates that the steward of the Irish Coursing Club may appoint extra officers. This, again, highlights a difficulty as all organisations are trying to cut back on staff numbers. I suggest we use existing officers of the Irish Coursing Club. Their job is to mark new litters and have registration books started and their role could be extended to include the inspectorate functions within the remit of this legislation. That would be a sensible move and easily done. It would ensure the legislation, when enacted, would not lead to the Irish Coursing Club complaining that it did not have enough money to employ extra officers. We must be careful in this regard. We all want to see this good legislation being implemented, although it must be tweaked a little to introduce an element of common sense to ensure it will work.