Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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804. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of prosecutions to date under the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013; the number of prosecutions initiated for illegal puppy farming; the outcomes of same; and his future plans in the area. [13181/16]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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The Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013 is a legal instrument with wide application and potential use by a range of authorised officers in a wide variety of settings. Local authorities, An Garda Síochána and officials of my Department are empowered to take prosecutions under the Act. To date, over 50 prosecutions have been initiated under the Act, including those taken by my Department arising from field inspections by Department Officers, authorised officers of the ISPCA and DSPCA and An Garda Síochána. Several prosecutions have been successfully completed and the remainder are at various stages in the court system.

Local Authorities/County Councils have responsibility under the Dog Breeding Establishment Act 2010 for the licensing and inspection of dog breeding premises and for initiating prosecutions as appropriate under that Act. In 2015, my predecessor requested that inspectors of my Department engage in joint inspections with the Local Authorities of the dog breeding establishments countrywide. Arising from these joint inspections, a number of establishments were requested to engage in structural improvements of their premises and, following the serving of a closure notice under the Dog Breeding Establishment Act, one establishment was shut down by Carlow County Council in early 2015.