Maria Byrne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for coming in to discuss this all-important issue. We are all concerned and extremely aware of dog welfare and animal welfare.

I wish to follow up on some of the previous points made about control. Wardens are very scarce in some local authorities and, therefore, I am concerned as to whether there is full control. Do wardens follow up on licence to make sure that people obey the law? I understand that a person cannot let one's dog off the lead outside of one's own property so I wonder how many wardens enforce that law. That is one question I would like the Minister of State to consider.

Not every local authority has a dog warden and some have a skeleton warden service. If a big local authority has only one warden then it is very hard to follow up on every single complaint; I am sure that some of the complaints go amiss. I compliment the people who go out there and carry out their job. I also compliment the many volunteers who work with the different animal welfare groups. In my own area of Limerick there are many people involved in animal welfare but there are also private groups that collect abandoned dogs and other animals, particularly around Christmas and at different times of the year. These people bring the animals into their own homes and then try to rehome them. It is a welcome development that we do not see as many dogs being put down as happened in the past or at least there are reports that dogs are not being put down and instead are being rehomed.

What happened to a young boy in County Wexford a few weeks ago and the attack on sheep last week are two really serious issues related to the control of dogs. I understand that microchips are linked back to the breeders although this does not happen in every area. The microchip should be linked to the dog licence, which is a very clear request in Senator Boylan's Bill. If the microchip is linked to the licence then it is linked to the owner of the dog. One regularly sees on Facebook or social media images or notices about different animals that have been abandoned yet the owner cannot be traced because the dog has no microchip. It should made compulsory that every animal is microchipped and the microchip is linked to the licence details. I have highlighted the fact that there is only a skeleton warden service in some local authorities. If people do not have a licence then I wonder who will follow up on matters.

Overall, I welcome that the thrust of the Bill is very positive. The Bill is a step in the right direction in how we deal with animals and animal welfare because none of us wants to see animals being abandoned especially any of us who have our own animals. I am sure that most people feel the same as almost every household has had a dog or other animal at some stage.

I compliment Senator Boylan on bringing forward the different suggestions in the Bill and I would like to see some of them implemented in the future.