Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

I do not propose to accept these amendments. I do not know why the Senator is introducing this unnecessary level of doubt. If an animal cannot be identified, then the Minister should have the power to destroy it rather than have the terminology proposed that if it is not possible to identify an animal, then the Minister may have the power. One would have to have a discussion and argument about whether it is possible to identify the animal, which could involve taking DNA samples and blood tests and trying trace an animal back to where it may have come from in a previous herd.

What we are talking about here is the smuggling of animals and animals which have had the tags taken out of their ears, in some cases deliberately while in others, not deliberately. We have to be able to respond to the potential spread of disease if we do not know where an animal has come from and we cannot identity the owner rather than have to go through a rigmarole of trying to establish whether it is possible to identify the animal. The Minister should be able to make a call on this.

I to some extent understand what the Senator is saying, that there should be an onus to establish whether it is possible to identify an animal. In case there is a concern here, this will not be a case of the Minister putting down a sheep in Sligo which has had the tag pulled out of its ear in a hedge and where nobody can identify it. There needs to be a reason for these things.

Section 30 states that the Minister may direct that an animal be killed or that a carcass, animal product, animal feed or other thing be destroyed or disposed of where, in the opinion of the Minister, it is affected with a disease or a disease agent or it may be or is suspected of being affected with a disease or a disease agent. This is about trying to stop the spread of disease in the case of an outbreak primarily. If an animal is wandering down the road and nobody knows who owns it, we need to be able to destroy it, if that is appropriate. The certainty in the language currently is much better than what is proposed.