Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein)

The Minister is spot on as regards the Galway issue. It is mainly horses that were bought in the boom times, apparently as show horses or for horse racing.

On the other issue that arises, when the council picks up an abandoned horse it appears to be obliged to keep that horse until the owner turns up to collect it. If a horse is being kept in the midlands for a number of weeks or months is there a specified timescale following which it is reasonable to assume the owner no longer intends to claim it and therefore the animal can either be sold or disposed of by other means? One of the issues is the cost of keeping the horses. I am sure the Minister has addressed that with the councils.