Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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179. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of greyhounds and other dogs exported to EU and non-EU countries in 2016 and to date in 2017; and the action he will take to cease the export of Irish greyhounds to Pakistan for use in coursing. [3585/17]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Once appropriate animal health and welfare certification requirements are met, dogs, including greyhounds, may be exported internationally. Health certification arrangements are in place and exporters are also required to comply with the provisions of Council Regulation (EC) No 1 of 2005 on the protection of animals during transport.

Over the course of 2016 officials of my Department met with Bord na gCon, the organisation which is responsible for the governance, regulation and development of the greyhound industry in Ireland, and with the welfare members of the International Greyhound Forum (represented by the ISPCA and the Dogs Trust) to consider the issues surrounding the export of greyhounds. Bord na gCon advises all owners involved in the export of greyhounds to only export to destinations that provide the expected levels of greyhound care and management as defined in the IGB's Code of Practice for the welfare of greyhounds. I fully endorse this view.

There are no requirements or facilities for recording the breed of dog as part of the export certification process. Accordingly, it is not possible to provide the Deputy with the breakdown of export trade statistics he is seeking. A detailed breakdown of canine exports from Ireland during 2016 and 2017 to-date are set out in the following table. There is no record at this point of direct exports to Pakistan.