Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

Perhaps I can respond before the seconder arrives. To be helpful on this, we will not accept amendment No. 4. It relates to Part 3 which deals with animal welfare and the duty to protect it. Keeping the terminology "shall take all necessary steps" to prevent cruelty must remain as it is. With regard to amendment No. 1, it is not unreasonable to partially accept what the Senator is saying. We will retain the term "necessary" but add "and reasonable" after it. It would therefore read "take all necessary and reasonable measures". This is about preventing animals from straying, in other words, issues to do with fencing, maintaining order in fields and so forth. There may be instances of extreme weather conditions or if a dog has caused panic in a herd which subsequently knocks down a fence. The phrase, "taking all necessary measures", may be a bit to restrictive so I propose the introduction of the word, "reasonable". In the case of amendment No. 4 we think it should remain as tight and as strong as it is.