Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Doyle.

Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein)
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I welcome the Minister of State. He will be aware that my colleague, Deputy Quinlivan, recently submitted a parliamentary question asking how many prosecutions since January 2013 for the failure of owners to microchip their horses had taken place. We submitted that question after a meeting with Action for Animal Welfare Ireland, AAWI, which, the Minister of State may know, is holding a protest today at 2 p.m. outside Leinster House. The answer came back from the Minister of State's Department that there had been zero prosecutions in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017, which in fairness shows a consistency in the Department's approach. It has consistently done nothing to ensure the effective policing of this issue, and has consistently failed to apply the law in this area. The reply to the question stated: "Enforcement of equine identification legislation is largely undertaken by authorised officers across the regional offices of [the Minister of State's] Department", and that the Department's "policy is to adopt a fair and proportional approach in dealing with breaches of equine identification legislation". Let us consider the words "fair and proportional". In the Minister of State's county of Cork last year, 92 horses were euthanised. Is that number fair and proportional? There were 211 in south Dublin, 67 in Tipperary, 139 in Fingal and 138 in my county of Limerick. In total last year, some 1,198 horses were euthanised, and there have been numerous documented cases of disgraceful abuse and cruelty to horses, which is why there is a protest here later today.

This is not fair and proportional. This is what happens when the law is not applied year after year, and it is the result of the Department not doing its job. It is now a major problem across a number of our towns and cities across the State, which interestingly is largely associated with working-class areas of Limerick city, Cork and Dublin, as well as areas of rural Ireland, such as Tipperary, which have long been forgotten by this Government. If these horses were roaming around Montenotte in Cork, Foxrock in Dublin or the North Circular Road in Limerick, I suspect we would quickly see a different definition of "fair and proportional".

I wish to quote from The Irish Timesfrom last December:

The latest find, on Wednesday, was a decomposing horse beside an isolated walkway at Suir Island in Clonmel. The animal is thought to have died of malnutrition. The remains of seven horses were found in a field in the Knocklofty area on December 18th. The horses were in various states of decomposition, with one foal standing by the carcass of a mare that may have been dead for up to a month. Up to 14 horses were discovered in the field alongside the dead horses’ remains and they were taken to an Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ISPCA) compound in Cork.

AAWI described last year as the worst for abuse of horses. As I said, it is holding a protest at 2 p.m. today and my colleague, Councillor Catherine Carey, who has been outspoken on this issue, will be there with the protestors. To conclude, the Minister of State's Department is failing, and I ask him to address the matter.

Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The current legislation governing the identification of equines is Commission Implementing Regulation 262/2015 (CR 262/2015), which came into effect on 1 January 2016. This EU legislation was subsequently transposed into national legislation via SI 62 of 2016, as amended. Under the current rules all equines must be identified with a passport no later than 12 months from the date of the equine’s birth and must be implanted with a numbered microchip transponder by a veterinary practitioner. SI 62 of 2016 requires that keepers submit an application for an equine passport with an appropriate passport-issuing organisation within six months of the date of birth of the animal.This provides the passport issuing organisations, PlOs, with sufficient time to conduct further examinations, including DNA testing for studbook equines, with a view to ensuring the identification document issues within the required timeframe, which is no later than 12 months from the date of birth of the equine. It is not an offence to apply for a passport outside the six-month timeframe but a passport issued outside of the 12 months specified under the article must be issued as a duplicate replacement document. The latter automatically and irrevocably excludes the associated equine from being slaughtered for human consumption at the end of its life.

In the context of microchipping, the number of the microchip must he recorded on the passport issued in respect of the equine. It must also be recorded on the database maintained by the issuing PIO and must be notified by the latter the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine's central database, along with all other identification data in respect of the equine that is required under Article 38 of CR 262/2015. The microchip creates a link between the equine and the passport issued in its respect. However, the passport is the required identification document under CR 262/2015. Equine identification documents are issued by PIOs to the Department.

The Senator referred to a response to a parliamentary question which indicated that the Department's policy is to adopt a fair and proportionate approach in dealing with this matter. The problem is that many of the animals referenced have never been microchipped and, as such, there are no traceable owners. All of the animals recorded in registered studbooks are so recorded for other reasons. Much work needs to be done in communities. The Department has invested €127,000 per annum over the past two years in a specific project in Limerick, which has expanded into many other areas. This project, known as the Moyross project, has resulted in some young people taking up training in stables and, in some cases, further education in this area. One particular young man is considered to have a bright future ahead in this field. There is work being done in this area. I am a horse owner and I have taken rescue animals onto my own farm in the past. I understand the difficulties expressed. As a former member of a local authority, I know that when animals are found in a poor state of health nobody admits to ownership of them. These animals are never released until they have been microchipped and only then to persons who can prove they have access to sufficient grazing land for them. This is how the system works.

This was highlighted as a major issue some years ago but people's activities have been reined in year on year in the meantime. I agree that the cruelty to which reference was made is unacceptable. As an owner of animals, I could not stand over such cruelty.

Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I appreciate that he did not just work through the script because, with no disrespect to the civil servant who drafted it, it does not address the issue raised. I accept the Minister of State's bona fides but, with no disrespect, the Department is not policing the system effectively. According to Action for Animal Welfare Ireland, there are repeated behaviours year on year because there are never prosecutions. A fair and proportionate response must include prosecutions. It is not acceptable that there have been no prosecutions for the last five years. The Department should and must do more.

Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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There are two offences in respect of which prosecutions are taken. The Senator did not ask about prosecutions for cruelty. The question is specifically about the failure of horse owners to have them microchipped. Were the Senator to ask for the statistics on prosecutions for cruelty to animals, including horses, he might get a different response.

Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein)
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I will submit a further Commencement matter in a few months, if I may.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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The Senator is entitled to do so.