Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. I welcome the Minister and my friend. I thank him for taking direct responsibility for dealing with a Commencement matter; he is setting a good example there. On 4 January what I would regard as a mysterious consultation appeared on the website of the Department of agriculture. I felt it was artfully hidden under seven statutory notices on dog ear-cropping regulations. It was the only item not headlined at the top of the page. It seemed as though people were not meant to notice it.

That consultation being announced is on a hot topic in the animal welfare world, the proposed banning of e-collars, the training of dogs with electronic collars. The primary use of those collars is to stop dogs attacking sheep, events which are terrifying for the sheep and highly disruptive. Anybody who knows sheep farmers or have had the experience of coming across sheep savaged to death by stray dogs knows it does nobody any good at all. It is not great for the dogs either because when they are caught, they tend to get shot by farmers or put down by vets. This is happening almost daily the length and breadth of this island - Limerick, Offaly, Tipperary, Derry and Galway all had appalling attacks recently. I saw a representative of the IFA talking about the expected problems during the lambing season just starting.

Many breeds, ranging from greyhounds to German shepherds, have a strong predatory drive to chase after animals like sheep. Given that they can smell their prey vastly better than we can and they can run faster than us, there are two options if we are serious about stopping the appalling epidemic of attacks. We could keep dogs permanently on leads. That is easier said than done with big dogs especially when their owners are becoming frail. It is also no life for a dog to be kept permanently on a lead. That leads us to the need to train dogs to avoid their normal predatory targets. Electronic collar training is one form. It gets the dog to permanently associate a startle with its predatory target. It is a Pavlovian response and according to most scientific research, it is the most effective way.

My concern about this proposed consultation is that it seems to follow a direction of travel that it is proposed to have a ban on the use of these electronic collars. I am not talking, of course, about perimeter fencing or anti-bark; that does not seem to be covered. However, the fact that the consultation was so unnoticeable and a very fast three-week consultation period made me suspicious - not of the Minister, but of the Department.

I believe that these electronic collars used properly are humane, do not compromise animal welfare and are the most effective way to deal with the issue, and I believe the science backs that up. It is the most effective way of stopping sheep from getting savaged and dogs from getting shot.

I spoke to the deputy president of the Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association recently. He described a horrible scenario where even friendly dogs off-lead thinking that they are playing can chase sheep and terrify the poor creatures. There was a story about sheep that were cowering on a rock in the coastal area and eventually jumped to their deaths in their terror. Those who claim that the banning of such e-collars is about animal welfare need to think twice. The welfare of the animals that need to be saved from predatory dogs is one thing. The welfare of the dogs that end up getting shot or are kept chained up is another argument.

The alternative approach to training dogs proposed by some is to use reward-only training which uses biscuits and praise to induce better behaviour from the dog. That might sound nice in theory but it does not work in practice. Wales for example banned e-collars in 2010. Insurance data showed that there are four times more dog attacks on livestock in Wales than in comparable parts of the UK and three times more dogs being shot as a result. I think it is a no-brainer.

First, I ask the Minister to extend this consultation period which is due to end this Friday. Second, I ask him to ensure that there is an evidence-based approach to this issue and that there is proper consultation with the scientific community, farmers, dog owners and all other interested and informed parties.