Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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546. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the reason she intervened in the case of two hare coursing clubs (details supplied), and did not apply any sanctions, following alleged breaches of conditions of their licences. [19344/15]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Licences were issued by my Department in August 2014, under the Wildlife Acts, to the Irish Coursing Club on behalf of their affiliated clubs to facilitate the tagging and capturing of hares for the purpose of hare coursing for the 2014/15 coursing season.

Where resources allow, officials of my Department attend coursing meetings, on a spot-check basis, to monitor compliance with conditions on the licences granted by my Department. Veterinary officials from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine also attend some meetings on an annual basis.

The reports of officials from my Department who attended the two coursing meetings in question in September and October 2013 indicated that there was a lack of co-operation with them in the course of their duties, an issue which I take very seriously.

Following engagement with the clubs in question and the Irish Coursing Club, the body that oversees individual coursing clubs, written assurances were provided to my Department that both clubs would fully co-operate with officials of the Department at all times and that they would adhere to all licence conditions. On the basis of these assurances, I decided not to impose sanctions against the clubs on this occasion. At the same time, both clubs were issued with written warnings that any further transgressions, especially relating to lack of co-operation with officials of my Department, would result in my Department imposing future sanctions against the clubs.

Officials from my Department monitored the meetings of both clubs during the 2014/15 coursing season. The Conservation Rangers who attended the meetings reported that there was full co-operation forthcoming.