Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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180. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the degree to which the horse passport provisions are adequate to monitor equine welfare with particular reference to recent events; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18500/18]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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My Department devotes considerable resources to protecting animal welfare of all species and dealing with breaches of animal welfare legislation.  Incidents of animal cruelty are totally unacceptable and compliance with equine identification plays an important role in the protection of equine welfare.  The Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013 is the main legal instrument available to my Department to enforce animal welfare standards. The Act puts clear obligations on owners regarding the need to look after animals under their care. My Department employs a large team of veterinary inspectors to enforce the provisions of the Act and in a novel development under the Act, authorised officer status has been given to a small number of employees of the ISPCA, DSPCA and the Turf Club to carry out duties limited to welfare. All incidents of mistreatment of animals should be brought to my Department's attention and there is a dedicated helpline in place for the reporting of such incidents Call Save: 0761 064408. Email address - animalwelfare@agriculture.gov.ie. and all reports are processed in the strictest of confidence.

There are good possibilities for the re-homing of unwanted horses both at home and abroad and the animal charity sector provide a critically important role in this respect.  In recognition of their work, I provided funding of €2.56m to 111 animal welfare organisations to assist their work in the course of 2018. Separately, my Department also provides funding for the development of education and training programmes for horse owners including new structures to provide shelter for the urban and traveller horse population with the aim of reducing the number of straying animals and encouraging young people in the care and welfare of horses.