Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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456. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason for a perceived inconsistency regarding hunting laws here in which it is legal to hunt hares with beagles and harriers for open coursing but illegal to hunt for hares for open coursing with greyhounds and lurchers. [7672/19]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Coursing is regulated under the Greyhound Industry Act, 1958 chiefly by the Irish Coursing Club (ICC), subject to the general control of Bord na gCon. The ICC is committed to maintaining high standards in the sport of coursing, and it actively promotes the protection and conservation of the Irish hare.

Coursing operates in a highly regulated environment coupled with a comprehensive set of rules directly applied by the ICC. Hares are sourced under a licence from the Minister of Culture, Heritage & the Gaeltacht, issued annually with a total of 26 conditions. These include a variety of measures, including a requirement that a qualified veterinarian attends at all coursing meetings to report on the health of the hares, a prohibition on the coursing of hares more than once in the same day, a prohibition on the coursing of sick or pregnant hares and a requirement that hares be released back into the wild during daylight hours.

In addition, the ICC undertakes a range of actions to address issues related to health and welfare. Coursing clubs are required to comply fully with directives, instructions and guidance notes issued by the ICC in all matters relating to the capture, keeping in captivity, tagging, marking, coursing and release of hares, and the muzzling of greyhounds.

A monitoring committee on coursing is in place, comprising officials from my Department, the ICC and the National Parks and Wildlife Services (NPWS), to monitor developments in coursing and in that regard the situation is kept under constant review to ensure that coursing is run in a well controlled and responsible manner in the interests of both hares and greyhounds.

The committee meets after each coursing season to review the outcome of all coursing meetings, having particular regard to hare and greyhound welfare.

I believe that it is critically important that those involved in coursing operate in accordance with the regulatory framework and that the welfare of both hares and greyhounds is at the forefront at all times.

The other issues raised by the Deputy are beyond my Department’s remit.