Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

For the information of Senators, there are 27 groups. I hope we can move through them quite quickly because there is nothing really contentious left in this. There has been over eight hours of debate on this Bill, much of that in this House. Members of this House have made a significant contribution to the content of this Bill. It is a good example of a Bill that began in the Seanad and has been heavily influenced by it. I will outline the changes that have been made on Committee and Report Stages in the Dáil to the Bill the Seanad approved a number of months ago.

Group 1 concerns regulations relating to microchipping. These amendments allow a horizontal regime to incorporate existing provisions for identification in the Control of Dogs Act 1986, the Dog Breeding Establishments Act 2010 and the Welfare of Greyhounds Act 2011. Second, an amendment has already been made to Schedule 3 to provide that the Minister may introduce such regulations without the need for local authorities to request them specifically, as is currently the case.

On amendments Nos. 1 and 2, as we wish to amend the Dog Breeding Establishments Act 2010 and the Welfare of Greyhounds Act 2011, it was necessary to include in the Long Title that amendment to those Acts is being proposed.

Amendment No. 43 provides that where a dog is identified in accordance with animal health and welfare regulations, this will cover the dog as complying with section 16 of the Dog Breeding Establishments Act 2010. The purpose of this provision is to ensure both sets of legislation are consistent and to ensure one measure does not contradict the other, particularly in relation to microchipping.

Amendments Nos. 66 to 68, inclusive, contain a number of amendments to the Welfare of Greyhounds Act 2011. References to various Acts which are being replaced by the Animal Health and Welfare Bill are replaced with references to the Animal Health and Welfare Bill. The purpose is similar to amendment No. 43.

Amendment No. 71 widens the scope whereby the Minister may set down controls, such as identification and microchipping, hitherto limited to acting at the behest of a local authority.

Those are the amendments Nos. 1, 2, 43, 66 to 68, inclusive, and 71. In essence, this group of amendments allow me to introduce regulations that can require that all dogs would be microchipped by 2016, that we would phase that in and that we will be consistent with what is already the law in the Welfare of Greyhounds Act 2011 and the Dog Breeding Establishments Act 2010.