Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for his good wishes and return them to him on his election to this House. The Control of Dogs (XL Bully) Regulations 2024, SI 491 of 2024, which provided for the banning of XL bully-type dogs, came into force in two stages, beginning on 1 October 2024 last, with a full ownership ban coming into force on 1 February this year. The ban was brought in over two stages to give XL bully-type dog owners who wished to keep their dog time to obtain a certificate of exemption. There was a four-month period between 1 October 2024 and 1 February 2025 where these owners were able to apply for that certificate.

Owners should have used the published physical conformation standard to determine if their dog was an XL bully-type dog. It is the owner's responsibility to determine if their dog is covered by the ban. lf an application for a certificate of exemption, which must have been applied for before 1 February 2025, is refused for any reason, the owner would be notified in writing by their local authority. Such owners may re-apply to their local authority within ten working days if they are subsequently able to address the reason the application was refused, for example, if documentation was missing from the original application. lf further applications are refused, and a certificate of exemption is not applied for, or was not in place before 1 February 2025, owners may be required to surrender their dog to the local authority dog warden. Under the Control of Dogs (XL Bully) Regulations 2024, a dog warden may seize and detain an XL bully-type dog which is not the subject of a certificate of exemption, and destroy, or cause to be destroyed, in a humane manner, such XL bully-type dogs.

I can confirm that I intend to introduce further regulations that will provide for an appeals mechanism and process in circumstances where a dog owner may disagree with the determination of a dog warden that a dog not in possession of a certificate of exemption meets the physical conformation standard that defines an XL bully-type dog. It should be noted that, under the existing provisions of the Control of Dogs Act, a dog warden can make a complaint to the District Court that a dog is dangerous and not kept under proper control.Where the court determines the dog is dangerous and is not kept under proper control, the court may, in addition to any other penalty it may impose, order that the dog be kept under proper control. It is a matter for the court to determine who is liable for costs in such cases. That puts the emphasis back on the owner.

As for the Senator's remarks regarding the appeals process online, this will be a matter for the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. We are transferring this function to the Department but until that happens we will work on the appeals process. I will take the Senator's comments on board as we design that.