Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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227. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views on whether the issue of equines being stamped out of the food chain is a contributory factor to the seizure of horses and ponies without the correct paperwork (details supplied) under the Control of Horses Act 1996 at a cost of €4.5 million in each of the years 2014 to 2017; his plans to review this system; and if the payment of such items will continue. [13340/18]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Equines seized under the Control of Horses Act 1996 are generally done so on the basis that they are straying, causing a nuisance or posing a danger. In these circumstances they are unlikely to be under the care of their keepers. Accordingly, any identification document issued in respect of the animals will not be available immediately.

Where, at the point of seizure, a microchip cannot be detected in an equine, it is not possible to determine the identification status or food chain eligibility of that animal.  The absence of a microchip does not necessarily render an equine unidentified as microchips are required only for equines identified with a passport from 1 July 2009 onwards. 

EU legislation governing the identification of equines is Commission Implementing Regulation 262/2015 (CR 262/2015), as transposed into national law via S.I. 62 of 2016.

S.I. 62 of 2016 requires that an application for an equine passport must be made within 6 months of the recorded date of birth of the equine. CR 262/2015 provides that all equines must be issued with an identification document (passport) recording the number of the approved microchip implanted into the equine by a private veterinary practitioner, no later than 12 months from the date of birth of the animal. Identification documents issued after that time must be in the format of replacement/duplicate documents which must be stamped to irrevocably exclude the related equines from the food chain.

CR 262/2015 endeavours to protect the food chain and public health in ensuring that only those equines eligible for the food chain are slaughtered for human consumption. It is a binding legislative Act that must be applied in its entirety across the EU.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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228. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if data is gathered via microchips or DNA samples as to the breed categories of the 9,000 horses and ponies seized under the Control of Horses Act 1996 in each of the years 2014 to 2017, such as thoroughbred, warmbloods, sport horses, Connemara ponies, Kerry bog ponies and so on. [13341/18]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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The Control of Horses Act 1996 details powers available to local authorities for the control and welfare of horses. Evidence from the local authorities indicates that the majority of horses seized under the Act are not microchipped and while owners of seized horses are given five days to reclaim their horses, very few are in fact reclaimed. The legislation governing equine identification  provides that all equines must be identified with a passport no later than 12 months from the date of birth of the animal; there is no requirement for equines identified prior to 1 July 2009 to have a transponder implanted. 

The Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013 places an obligation on all those in charge of an animal to meet the animal’s needs. Horses impounded under the Control of Horses Act are often in a very poor state and invariably have not been identified by their owners. Taking DNA samples from these animals for testing would be a prohibitive cost to the taxpayer and has limited value in the absence of an existing library of DNA samples against which to compare.  

The Farm Animal Welfare Advisory Council (FAWAC) advises all horse owners to adhere to the legal requirement for all horses to be identified and in possession of a valid passport and reiterate that it is the responsibility of horse owners throughout the country to ensure the welfare of horses in their care. Cases of horse cruelty and abandonment should be forwarded to the Animal Welfare Helpline for investigation email animalwelfare@agriculture.gov.ie.