Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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Question 485: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food her views on whether it is cruel to slaughter animals for their fur alone; if she has proposals to ban fur farming here; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3323/08]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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Under the Musk Rats Act, 1933 (Application to Mink) Order 1965, the keeping of mink is prohibited except under licence, obtained from my Department. Licences are issued under this legislation only if the applicant, following an inspection, is found to be compliant with a number of key conditions. There is no legislation requiring the licensing of fox farms.

Licensed fur farms are also inspected to assess compliance with the Council of Europe recommendations concerning fur animals and Council Directive 98/58/EC concerning the protection of animals kept for farming purposes. These inspections have to date found that the licensed fur farms have been operating in compliance with current legislation. Inspections have also found that the slaughter methods employed by the licensed fur farms are permitted under the Sixth Schedule of the European Communities (Protection of Animals at Time of Slaughter) Regulations, 1995.

Fur Farming is considered to be a legitimate farming activity throughout the greater majority of Member States of the European Union, the exceptions being the UK where fur farming was banned from 01/01/2003 and Austria or Luxembourg where fur farming is not permitted.

Given that the licensed fur farms operating in this country meet current national and EU requirements there is no reason why what is, after all, a legitimate farming activity, which is permitted in the greater majority of EU Member States, should be banned.

My Department continues to monitor the operation of the licensed fur farms.