John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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354. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his plans to ban or control sulky racing on roads and in public places; his views on the number of horses that have died because of accidents arising from sulky racing and use of sulkys on public roads; if he will investigate the welfare of such horses and establish a licence or registration system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28075/14]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Like all activities on the public road, sulky racing is governed by the Road Traffic Acts and imposes an obligation pursuant to these acts on the person engaged in this activity to drive their vehicles with due care for other road users and not to indulge in dangerous driving of the vehicles. Under the Control of Horses Act 1996, Local Authorities have powers to designate exclusion areas by enacting by-laws prohibiting persons from having a horse in an area except for bona fide reasons and this could extend to horses used in sulky racing. I would urge all local authorities to consider implementing these provisions in order to reduce the indiscriminate riding of horses by sulky racers.

I have recently introduced new regulations concerning the identification and change of ownership of horses. These regulations consolidate existing regulations and strengthen the powers of authorised officers to seize, detain and, where required, dispose of equines that are not compliant with the equine identification legislation.

New regulations relating to the transfer of ownership of horses come into effect today, 1 July. Under these regulations, ownership details of all new foals registered and horses bought and sold will be captured by Passport Issuing Bodies and on my Department’s equine database, thereby readily identifying the owner/person responsible for the equine.

As is evident from the foregoing, I have undertaken much work in the tightening of controls on the identification and traceability of horses in recent years. My Department and other State Agencies now have a suite of instruments in relation to identification of horses, ownership and premises where horses are kept. The new regulations will further assist my Department and other agencies, including An Garda Síochána and local authorities, in identifying and taking appropriate action on owners in cases where horses are found neglected or welfare-compromised.