Micheál Carrigy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Acting Chairperson and welcome the Minister to the Chamber.

As Senator McGreehan has highlighted the recent tragedy and we are discussing this issue, it is important that we convey our sympathies to the family of the young lady who was recently deceased. Over the last number of years a lot of young children have been mauled, disfigured, etc. and we are mindful of their plight.

It is important for us to note the following. Last December, the Minister introduced increased fines and further funding for various local authorities. Very importantly, the Minister established a stakeholder group to discuss future changes and initiatives.

My initial reason for co-signing the Bill with Senator McGreehan was due to hearing the concerns expressed when I met representatives of my local IFA group in County Longford and the IFA's sheep committee. They highlighted their concerns about the number of attacks on sheep flocks in the local area and particularly in south County Longford. They said they felt the issue was not being addressed and wanted to highlight the matter. As it is my role and responsibility to represent them I felt that it was important that I pursue this matter. That is why I am delighted to join with Senator McGreehan as a co-signatory of this Bill, which seeks to make changes.

Responsible ownership is key but, unfortunately, in reality there is a lack of responsible ownership which I was reminded about throughout the Covid period. When everything was closed up at that time many families got pet dogs and many of those owners did not display responsible ownership. Now, unfortunately, there are a lot of stray dogs and other stray animals. Therefore, we need to increase the funding allocated to each local authority and dog wardens and ensure these issues are addressed.

On microchipping, I know, having been a postmaster, that all post offices sell licences on behalf of local authorities and the service is now done by computer.The reality is, and I know from experience of doing it for many years, that 95% of people do not have their dogs microchipped. A licence can still be issued, even though it is a question on the licence, when the dog has not been microchipped. Perhaps that needs to change as it might encourage more people to do it. We need to make microchipping mandatory because we need to be able to identify the owners of the dogs where there are issues of concern, whether it is with livestock, young children or adults, as we have seen. They need to be made responsible, be fined or prosecuted for being responsible for what their dogs carry out. It comes back to responsible ownership. I do not know the percentage, needless to say, but the owners that have not microchipped their dogs need to be identified, charged, brought to court, prosecuted and fined for any issues that occur.

Another issue in the Bill is the idea of pet insurance, which is being sold and which people take out. However a microchip does not have to be provided to take out the insurance. There are a few simple things that could be put into the Bill that would help to cut out this issue. They are a few short and simple ways that we feel we can put pressure on owners to make sure they microchip their dogs. However, ultimately, this is about supporting our livestock, farming and agriculture industry, especially those in the sheep industry. As we have seen in recent times, we need to protect young children and adults. We do not want to read in the newspaper or hear on the 9 o'clock news that someone else or some child has been mauled and disfigured or someone has passed away. I fully support the Bill and commend it to the House.

I will ask a question about the stakeholder group. Will a representative of the Irish Farmers Association, IFA, sheep committee be part of it? If not, could that committee be engaged with on the matter?