John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 1780: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the number of people who have a dog licence; the amount of money this raises; the number of people prosecuted for not having a dog licence; the estimated number of people who do not have a dog licence who own a dog; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1325/07]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The Control of Dogs Acts 1986 and 1992 place statutory responsibility for dog control and licensing services on local authorities. The implementation of these Acts is vested in local authorities who have power to appoint dog wardens, to provide shelters for stray and other dogs, to impose on-the-spot fines for a number of offences and to take prosecutions.

Information supplied by local authorities to my Department for 2005 — the most recent year for which statistics are available — shows that the number of individual dog licences issued was 195,769 and the number of general dog licences issued was 391. The income which accrued to local authorities in 2005 from licence fees, on-the-spot fines and pound fees etc. was in excess of €2.5 million. 253 prosecutions were taken by local authorities for breaches of licensing requirements.

Information relating to the number of people who own a dog but do not have a dog licence is not available in my Department.