Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party)
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116. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the extra resources he has targeted to deal with the increasing levels of animal cruelty and abandonment; and if he will ensure that those responsible face very considerable penalties. [6323/14]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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My Department devotes considerable resources to issues relating to the welfare of animals, including horses. The Department paid some €3m to the Local Authorities under the Control of Horses Act in 2013 to enable them to deal with stray and unwanted horses. This enabled the Local Authorities to remove almost 4,000 stray or unwanted horses last year and thereby resolve a number of serious horse welfare situations.

In addition, in December 2013, I announced funding of €1.8m to 136 organisations involved in animal care and welfare services throughout the country to support their activities in 2014. The level of funding being provided to these organisations has increased for the third year in a row, reflecting the importance I attach to their work of their work. The increased funding was concentrated on those organisations involved in horse welfare, to ensure sufficient resources are available to enable them cater for any difficulties arising in the area of horse welfare during 2014 and to assist them in complying with new legislation on equine identification and equine premises registration.

The current penalties for breaches of animal welfare legislation are set out in Section 48 of the Control of Horses Act, 1996. Under the new Animal Health and Welfare Act the level of penalties to be imposed has been increased with fines being proportionate to the offence. For major cases taken on indictment the maximum penalty has been raised from €100,000 to €250,000 with a maximum custodial sentence of five years imprisonment. My Department has been working closely with the local authorities, the Gardai and animal welfare bodies with a view to addressing horse welfare issues generally and, where necessary, removing stray or unwanted horses.