Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On Senator Ó Domhnaill's amendments, the proposals for strict zero tolerance and a four-month minimum ban are rooted in the legislation as drafted. The applicable clause is based on scientific data and evidence. I accept what the Senator said about Australia and their laboratory levels but our equipment is so sophisticated now that it can detect levels that are minuscule and metabolites are considered to be irrelevant to a dog's performance by sports regulatory bodies. Levels can be so minuscule that they are not applicable. The contention is that levels must be practically applicable.

On the four-month limit, the sanctions allow for an automatic ban the minute an animal is determined to have failed a test. Further sanctions can be applied. First, there is a sanction to determine whether there is any residual effect. If an animal is found to have a substance in its body, it is automatically banned. If that substance is at such a level that the residual effect will not be gone from the animal for two, three, four or six months, the ban can and should continue for that period. There is a control committee and an appeals committee which will determine the level of sanction. There is also the provision across the board in racing and coursing for a disqualification order and an exclusion order. People can be banned from attending either racing or coursing meetings, so it is quite extensive. That is provided for within the powers of the control committee and the appeals committee. The control committee views the results and makes a determination, and the appeals committee can consider it again if it is brought before it.

Senator Higgins was more or less reiterating Senator Ó Domhnaill's points about the levels of sanctions. We are trying to keep this simple and effective by having an automatic ban upon failing a test and using the best scientific evidence we can avail of to determine if there are any residual effects that would influence the dog's performance, either to speed it up or slow it down as Senator Ó Domhnaill said. That is what the science and the equipment are there for and that is what the control committee and the appeals committee are there to determine.