Written answers

Tuesday, 18 September 2018

Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Equine Passports

Photo of Maureen O'SullivanMaureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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593. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the efforts and work being undertaken to ensure all horses are microchipped and allocated passports; and if the use of scanners being available to An Garda Síochána to assist them in ensuring the law is being complied with in respect of this issue will be considered. [37252/18]

Photo of Michael CreedMichael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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The rules governing the timescale within which equines must be identified are determined at EU level. Commission Implementing Regulation 262/2015 (CR 262/2015), which came into effect on 1 January 2016, lays down the rules governing the identification of equidae. This legislation was transposed into national legislation in Ireland via the European Union (Identification of Equidae) Regulations (S.I. 62 of 2016) (as amended).

Article 12(1) of CR 262/2015 provides that all equine animals must be identified with a passport no later than 12 months from the date of birth of the animal, and in any event, before moving permanently from the holding of origin. The passport must generally accompany the equine on movement.

Equines for which passports were issued with effect from 1st July 2009 must be implanted with a microchip by a veterinary practitioner and the number of that microchip must be recorded in the passport of the animal and on my Department's central equine database, thereby establishing a link between the animal and its identification document. However, equines identified with a passport prior to that date are not required to be implanted with a microchip. Accordingly, the absence of a microchip does not necessarily mean that an equine is not identified properly.

Equine passports are issued by Passport Issuing Organisations (PIOs) approved by my Department. Information available from these organisations suggest that high rates of compliance with the identification rules are being achieved.

Enforcement of equine identification legislation is primarily undertaken by authorised officers in my Department and across the various Local Authorities, who liaise with members of An Garda Síochána and officers of the Revenue Commissioners Officials, as required. Authorised officers from my Department engage in checks at sales venues including marts and fairs, as well as at horse slaughter plants and at export points including ports and airports. These compliance checks are ongoing and will continue to be undertaken.

The presence of a microchip in an equine cannot be established visually. When checking for the presence of a microchip in an equine, it is necessary to physically handle and scan the animal. From a health and safety perspective, this action should only be undertaken by personnel who are competent in the handling of equines. In that regard, where a member of An Garda Síochána requires an equine to be scanned, s/he should liaise with veterinary staff in the relevant Regional Veterinary Offices (RVO) of my Department who will assist in the scanning of the equine. All of the RVOs have sufficient supplies of scanners.

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