Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

I acknowledge that a number of suggestions have been received about this section, and I find I am of like mind. Therefore, I am accepting the spirit of a number of the amendments that have been proposed, and I have tried to accommodate them in a new amendment. As I stated during my Second Stage speech, there was never any intention to interfere with the current approach whereby, in emergency situations, an animal may be humanely killed by a knackery operative. Despite efforts to make it clear that this was intended, the previous wording still seemed to cause some confusion, and therefore I have had to redraft. I should be clear that the new subsection 23(1) allows any competent knackery operative to carry out such a killing. Many people misread section 23(2) as the general rule covering all situations in which an animal needs to be humanely killed. This is incorrect, as it does not say that only an authorised officer may kill. It states that if an authorised officer is of the opinion that an animal is fatally injured, he or she may kill the animal. Section 23(2) applies only to a situation in which an authorised officer or vet needs to humanely kill an animal that has been abandoned or where the owner is not taking adequate care and responsibility. Amendment 27a clarifies this. The new amendment No. 26 amends section 23(1) as follows: "Subject to this section, a person shall not kill a protected animal or cause or permit another person to kill a protected animal, unless the person killing the animal is competent to kill it in accordance with animal health and welfare regulations (if any) and does so in such manner as to inflict as little suffering as possible in the circumstances."

It is a sensitive and awkward issue to be required to kill an animal unexpectedly. When an animal breaks its leg while being loaded onto a trailer what does one do if a veterinarian is not on site? Who is considered competent to put the animal down? Numerous practical examples can be presented of animals suffering significant pain and requiring to be put down. If a veterinarian or other authorised officer is not available, one needs either a competent farmer or somebody from a knackery yard to perform the task as humanely as possible. This is the balance we are trying to strike in the section. I accept there is no perfect wording but we do not want to be overly restrictive. It is often the case that the humane response to a suffering animal is to put it down quickly and efficiently. If the skills required for such a task are available either on the farm or in a local knackery yard we should allow them to be applied rather than wasting hours locating a veterinarian.