Paul Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

First, as the chairman of a board of management of a secondary school, I wish to be associated with everything that was said this morning about the current situation with the leaving certificate. I plead with the ASTI to return to the room. Due to what occurred yesterday, the debate is now public. This is not good for the class of 2021. Ultimately, the decision on whatever leaving certificate examination takes place will be made around that table, so I plead with the ASTI to return to the talks and to have them in the tunnel and avoid the public debate.

The matter I wish to raise is, in a way, closely related to the issue raised by Senator Casey. I ask the Leader to lend the support of this House to a request that the Joint Committee on Agriculture and the Marine has sent to the relevant Ministers to recommence an awareness campaign regarding the savaging of sheep by dogs. We might work in collusion with Senator Casey and include the issue of dog fouling in urban areas under the same campaign. We are very familiar with the role of the councillor in approaching us for assistance, but I plead with all councillors to raise this matter at their local councils. The local authorities have ultimate responsibility for the Control of Dogs Act 1986. It is a startling fact that, according to Garda figures, at this time of the year each year there are approximately 400 attacks on sheep, which result in between 3,000 and 4,000 fatalities. Another startling fact is that it is compulsory and the law that one should have one's dog on a lead when outside. Many people do not realise this. We will be discussing mental health later today and I realise that it is vital during the pandemic that people get outdoors and get their exercise, but I plead with them to keep their dogs on the lead.

There are two points I wish to make to people and I hope they can be highlighted. People in areas where there is commonage land assume the land is public land.Commonage is land that is owned commonly by a group of farmers. It is not public land. Farmers do not mind people going onto their land once their dogs are under control.

With regard to enforcement, local authority dog pounds, etc., there are approximately 800,000 dogs in Ireland. There are 217,000 licensed dogs so this needs to be enforced. It is the law. I ask the Leader to forward that message to the Ministers to get the awareness campaign going first and we may need to address the question of legislation at a later stage.