Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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523. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 959 of 7 September 2018, if he will expand on the term "available evidence" which he stated in his reply indicates a very high level of compliance with the microchip legislation; if his attention has been drawn to the feedback from rescue groups that there is an extremely low level of compliance with microchipping legislation; and if he will clarify the source and the extent of the available evidence. [41897/18]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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The evidence on compliance I have cited has been based on total numbers of dogs registered with databases as provided by Europetnet as compared to estimates of the total dog population for the country.

The dogs which the various animal welfare charities are encountering are in many ways atypical in that they are unwanted or have been abandoned by irresponsible owners. For both these reasons they are less likely than the canine population as a whole to have been microchipped. In any case as part of the ex gratia funding arrangements in place for animal welfare organisations in recent years, additional funds have been made available to assist in the microchipping of dogs. Furthermore, special provision was made so that appropriate members of staff of the animal welfare charities who have obtained the necessary training may chip and register dogs in order to cut down on cost.

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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524. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 959 of 7 September 2018, if there is a legal aspect of the microchip legislation under review; if so, the detail of same; and the cause, possible implications and proposed timeframe involved until the issue is resolved. [41898/18]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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The legal requirement to have a dog microchipped is enshrined in the existing legislation. Under the Programme for a Partnership Government there is a commitment to strengthen the powers of the AnimalHealth and Welfare Act 2013. In this regard, I have published the Greyhound Racing Bill 2018. While this Bill deals primarily with matters relating to greyhound racing and the greyhound industry, it also contains a number of amendments to the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013, including provisions relating to the recording of information about dogs.