Pippa Hackett (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank my fellow Green Party Senators for tabling this motion. It is timely. I thank all Members who have spoken passionately about this issue. It is important to keep it high on the agenda.

I am pleased to welcome this motion on behalf of the Government, and I am particularly pleased that my Cabinet colleagues decided this week to support it, signalling the Government's commitment to high standards of animal welfare in Ireland.

Animal welfare does not fall under my remit. I am here to represent the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, who is in the Dáil taking parliamentary questions. I am not sure whether Senator Boyhan is aware of that. I am not sure about the meaning of his reference to the Minister being the one to attend the committee meetings. I have not been asked to and have not declined. If I were asked, I would be more than happy to attend.

The way we treat our animals reflects on us all, not only as a society but also as a nation. I welcome what seems to be the proactive approach of the agriculture committee. I thank Senator Boylan for highlighting that. I hope it continues because the committee is a channel through which we can hear different perspectives. It helps in terms of policy and Government decisions.

We have had no small reason for pause in recent days to step back and reflect on the many achievements of the Government over the past two years, and I am pleased with the progress my Department has made in this most vital area of policy since the Government took office. That has been recognised in the motion.

Senator Dolan highlighted the issue that animal welfare is spread across several Departments and that clarity is sometimes needed as to which Department, body or individual is responsible, be it a local authority or veterinary officers across the country. Even the public needs to have clarity, and politicians do too. I thank the Senator for highlighting that.

We have made significant progress on the delivery of programme for Government commitments on animal welfare. As the Members will recall, the Oireachtas legislated earlier this year to provide for a ban on fur farming. That is referred to in the motion. The reference to the commencement of the Act is certainly one we will be examining. I have been advised that negotiations with the affected farmers and their representatives are ongoing. While the exact date from which fur farming will be permanently shut down has not been finalised, I am advised by my officials that this matter will be resolved in the coming weeks, such that a ban can come into effect. I hope we will have more news on that in the next couple of weeks.

Senator Murphy highlighted that my Department has established a stand-alone animal welfare division for the first time. In 2021, we published Ireland's first dedicated animal welfare strategy, Working Together for Animal Welfare 2021–2025. That is significant because until now animal welfare and health were always bunched together. It was about the health of the animal rather than the welfare. We are clear now and everyone knows and recognises that animals are sentient and feel pain, distress and happiness. Therefore, this is a really positive move that we have made.A new advisory council on companion animal welfare is up and running and will provide valuable advice on relevant policy issues.

Later this year, the largest ever allocation of grants for animal welfare organisations will be announced. This is essential to support these organisations in their vital work. Unfortunately, the organisations are still necessary. We support them as much as we can. There was an important programme for Government commitment to double the funding. We will achieve that by the end of the year.

These are all real achievements that this Government has brought about. While it is important to reiterate our achievements in government here this morning, much like in the Lower House earlier this week, we also need to recognise the vital work that remains to be done by the Government and the further progress it is committed to achieving over the coming years.

We were all shocked and stunned by Senator Hoey's account of what is happening in Dublin Zoo. I will certainly relay that to my Department and engage with the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, who I understand has responsibility for zoos in the sense in question. It is shocking stuff and we will certainly follow up on it. The motion calls for regulations to be put in place for the ownership, sale and supply of exotic pets. Officials from my Department have held interdepartmental meetings with colleagues from the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS, to discuss and make progress on action on this issue. I assure the House that my officials will continue to make progress on this issue with colleagues in the NPWS.

Senator Boylan mentioned activity at EU level. My notes state Ireland indicated support in principle for a submission to the European Commission in respect of a potential legislative framework about positive listing. I hope there is a little more progress in this regard. My Department is looking forward to examining the details of this idea along with our fellow member states as soon as those details are circulated.

The motion refers to the strategic plan of Rásaíocht Con Éireann, RCE. I am advised that RCE recognises that its current strategic plan, for the years 2018 to 2022, needs to be updated and that it has engaged with KPMG to make progress on the update. Officials from my Department met representatives of KPMG to have an input into the stakeholder consultation phase of the plan. They will continue to engage actively on that review.

With respect to the pig welfare directive, which is also referred to in the motion, my Department has implemented several specific actions over the past two years to progress its full implementation. Since 2020, the Department has been running a programme of pig welfare inspections aimed at identifying the risk factors for tail biting, giving pig farmers the opportunity to address them, and then monitoring progress towards rearing pigs with intact tails. This programme is an important step towards compliance with the EU legislation on tail docking. To date, 138 commercial pig farms have been inspected and are engaging with the programme. This number is likely to increase in the coming months as active participation in the programme is one of the eligibility criteria for farmers availing of the pig exceptional payment scheme 2, recently announced.

In addition, the Department has collaborated with Animal Health Ireland and Teagasc to deliver a free tail-biting risk-assessment tool for pig farmers. This is important as it enables farmers to work with their own veterinary practitioners to deal with the risk factors for tail biting on their farms. Since September 2021, the Bord Bia quality assurance scheme for pig producers requires farmers to complete this risk assessment, which has significantly increased engagement and uptake.

In April 2022, my Department launched a new targeted agricultural modernisation scheme for pig farmers. The scheme offers farmers 40% co-funding up to the maximum investment ceiling of €200,000 towards new infrastructure for pig housing. The specifications of this scheme are specifically designed to deal with the main risk factors for tail biting, and my officials are confident that future housing constructed in line with this specification will enable pigs to be reared in Ireland without any need for tail docking.

I reiterate my Department's continued commitment to upholding high standards of animal welfare in the transport of live animals. Senators Lombard and Dolan have asked for clarity on the figures. I do not have them with me but whatever is on the Department's website will be clear. I take the point that the movement of animals from the Republic to Northern Ireland is categorised as an export, so it is important to break down the figures. Unweaned calves tend to be exported within the EU. It is older animals that might go beyond the EU. To be fair to the Green Party, which put the motion together, the motion does refer to exports outside the EU and the requirement to have a veterinarian on board a vessel. That is a programme for Government commitment. It has not quite been achieved yet. There have been one or two veterinarians on consignments but not the number there should have been. It is a matter that my fellow Senators speak passionately about. I reassure the House of the Department's commitment to introduce legislation to provide a legal basis requiring exporters shipping livestock on dedicated livestock vessels to third countries outside Europe to place a veterinarian on board. My officials are currently working on a legislative proposal to this effect.Another issue which has come up of late but is not directly related to the motion concerns shipments in summer months in extreme temperatures. That has been highlighted. I assure the House it is a priority of my Department that any legislative proposals will provide a legal basis not only for a veterinary presence on board but also maybe for the prevention of shipments of live animals through areas during periods of high temperatures. It is extremely distressing for those animals and is something we have addressed in the past. We need to keep looking at that.

Senator Craughwell spoke in great detail and knowledgeably about dogs. It is something that crops up and Senator Boylan also talks about dog welfare. The Dog Breeding Establishments Act is there to regulate the operation of such establishments but there are concerns over how it is enforced and what is coming out of it. We meed to keep that in mind. Breeding issues are a concern for many with dogs, whether it is inbreeding or breeding for desired traits and then undesirable traits or traits damaging to the welfare of those animals emerge. We see the issue with pugs, for example. There is a huge emphasis on that. It is important to keep those issues to the top of the agenda.

It is not always about buying dogs. There are plenty of dogs to be adopted and rehomed from the many hard-working animal welfare organisations around the country. I am glad to say my house is filled with dogs and cats from goodness knows where, but they are great. Everyone says you will not change the world by adopting a dog or cat but you change the world for that dog or cat so I highly recommend it.

I thank my fellow Senators for their contributions and their support for the motion. It is good to have that strong message coming from the Seanad on this. As I have said and we have heard, animals are sentient beings who can perceive their environment and experience sensations such as pain, suffering, pleasure and comfort. As Ireland's animal welfare strategy recognises:

human health and animal health are interdependent and bound to the health of the ecosystems in which they exist. Our animals’ health, the environments they inhabit, how they adapt to those environments, and the degree of social interaction they experience, have profound effects on their welfare; and more broadly, also impact on society beyond the animals themselves.

I am delighted, therefore, to say on behalf of my Cabinet colleagues that the Government supports this motion.