Chris Andrews (Sinn Fein)

I have previously raised the barbaric practice of surgical artificial insemination of greyhounds. Senator O'Loughlin was just as outraged and disgusted by it as everyone else. This is a practice where the greyhound is sliced open, the uterus is removed and the semen is inserted. The greyhound is then sewn back up and expected to carry the pups through pregnancy until their delivery, all while trying to recover from that surgery.

The Government carried out a consultation into this practice and had submissions, which have not been made public. In the minutes for the September 2024 meeting of the advisory council on companion animal welfare, it was revealed the consultation results had been reviewed and had indicated that surgical artificial insemination should be prohibited in all dogs, including greyhounds. The Minister has said the Government will look at the proposed legislation when the report is published. When will the report be published and when will surgical artificial insemination be banned? It is a barbaric and disgusting practice. Delaying this ban is, in effect, giving the green light for surgical artificial insemination to continue. It is important the consultation be published and surgical insemination be banned as a matter of urgency.

Another issue I wish to raise relates to the broadcasting unit. The Irish Times recently quoted the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission as having said workers and Pi Communications were in dialogue at the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, and that it would not be appropriate to undermine the industrial relations process. Countering this, in respect of the WRC progress, only four members out of more than 20 staff are involved and, as yet, they have failed to reach any satisfactory outcome. It is time the Minister intervened. There is unity in support for the broadcast workers across the political divide in the Oireachtas. A total of 159 TDs and Senators have signed the broadcast workers' letter to the commission, including four Ministers. We cannot continue to talk about workers' rights when we do not have our own house in order. We must address this. It is an important issue that is fundamental to how the Oireachtas operates. We cannot lecture other groups outside of the Oireachtas when we cannot get it right ourselves.