Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

I am not going to get into a debate on hare coursing but I respect the Senator's views. We have endeavoured to get the balance right with this legislation in order to protect vulnerable animals, to ensure people realise the responsibility that comes with ownership of animals and to act more effectively on bio-security issues. We have deliberately left alone the legal status of hunting and coursing. We dealt with these issues under a previous section by providing for recognised codes of conduct for field sports and hunting. That will not change unless the codes are breached in a blatant way that brings other elements of the Bill into effect. We will, therefore, not be changing the status of hare coursing in this Bill.

In regard to whether the section covers bees, I may have to dial a friend for the answer.