Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Yes.

RTÉ has come in for a lot of stick in recent times. It was horrific to see the treatment of horses on the programme aired by "RTÉ Investigates" last night.The Acting Leader is from horsey country and the Connemara pony is one of the finest horse breeds in the world. It would be devastating to him and the people in his area to think horses from there were being treated in the way we saw horses treated last night. These were racehorses and showjumpers. Horses that have given great service to their owners were reduced to what we saw on "RTÉ Investigates" last night. I was delighted to see the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, come out this morning and say there will be an immediate investigation. I hope the people we saw last night with the sticks and whips finish up in jail and it is a pity we do not have jails where they get sticked and whipped for the things they did. It was absolutely outrageous to see what happened there last night. People in the perpetrators' local area recognised them on TV last night and they need to point out who they are and they need to get them to the gardaí. We need the full rigour of the law. If these people will do that to a senseless animal, what would they do to another human being? They were disgusting, filthy, people and they need to be brought to justice quickly. We also need to close down that institution immediately.