Pat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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537. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of stray horses that have been seized by Department officials in each county in the first four months of the year and the total cost involved. [21498/14]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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My Department provides funding under the Control of Horses Act, 1996 to assist local authorities in implementing the provisions of the Act in relation to stray, abandoned and wandering horses. Local authorities submit claims to my Department on a quarterly basis in arrears in respect of horses seized by them in implementation of the Act.

To date completed claims in respect of January, February and March 2014 (quarter 1) have not being received from all local authorities. Claims in respect of April 2014 will be included in quarter 2 claims and are not due to be submitted to my Department until mid August 2014. No payments have issued in respect of quarter 1, 2014 to date.

However, based on the claims received to date, the following table shows the statistics for horses seized in January, February and March 2014.