Written answers

Tuesday, 15 September 2020

Department of Rural and Community Development

Dog Breeding Industry

Photo of Eoin Ó BroinEoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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917. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the number of dog breeding establishments licensed in each county in each of the years 2015 to 2019 and to date in 2020, in tabular form. [23377/20]

Photo of Eoin Ó BroinEoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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918. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the number of breeding bitches licensed in each dog breeding establishment in each of the years 2015 to 2019 and to date in 2020, in tabular form. [23378/20]

Photo of Joe O'BrienJoe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 917 and 918 together.

It is the responsibility of each local authority to maintain the register of dog breeding establishments in its administrative area. However, my Department does publish annual statistics on a range of local authority dog control responsibilities, including in relation to dog breeding establishments. This information is collated from annual returns received from local authorities. Information up to and including 2018 is available on Gov.ie at the following link .

The information requested regarding numbers of dog breeding establishments licensed in each county is also provided in tabular form below, for the years 2015 to 2018.

The information published by my Department does not include the number of breeding bitches licensed in each dog breeding establishment, but this information can be examined in the registers which are available for inspection at each local authority.

It is planned to publish the 2019 Dog Control Annual Statistics on Gov.ie during October. The 2020 Dog Control Annual Statistics will be published in 2021.

Dog Breeding Establishments 2015 - 2018

Local Authority (LA) Total number of premises on LA Register at 31/12/15 Total number of premises on LA Register at 31/12/16 Total number of premises on LA Register at 31/12/17 Total number of premises on LA Register at 31/12/18
Carlow 8 9 10 9
Cavan 9 8 7 7
Clare 1 0 0 0
Cork City 1 1 1 1
Cork County 23 26 35 39
Donegal 4 7 8 6
Dublin City 0 1 1 0
Dún Laoghaire/ Rathdown 0 0 0 0
Fingal 5 6 6 8
Galway City 0 0 0 0
Galway County 6 8 8 8
Kerry 2 2 1 1
Kildare 3 3 3 3
Kilkenny 16 17 16 16
Laois 8 8 8 5
Leitrim 4 4 3 3
Limerick City & County 33 34 36 35
Longford 8 7 7 3
Louth 6 7 7 7
Mayo 8 10 10 11
Meath 2 2 2 3
Monaghan 13 14 14 14
Offaly 8 5 5 4
Roscommon 4 4 4 2
Sligo 2 2 2 2
South Dublin 1 0 1 4
Tipperary 19 17 17 19
Waterford City & County 3 1 3 3
Westmeath 13 11 9 10
Wexford 23 26 28 25
Wicklow 10 8 6 5
TOTAL 243 248 258 253

Photo of Eoin Ó BroinEoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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919. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the progress to date and-or the schedule for ensuring robust and consistent enforcement of the Dog Breeding Establishments Act 2010 as per the programme for Government. [23380/20]

Photo of Joe O'BrienJoe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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My Department has overall policy responsibility for the Dog Breeding Establishments Act 2010, while local authorities have responsibility for all operational matters, including enforcement.

The Act provides for Guidelines to be put in place for the management and operation of Dog Breeding Establishments. Following a public consultation process in 2018, my Department published new Guidelines which came into effect on 1 January 2019 which will assist in the robust and consistent enforcement of the Act by local authorities. I want to see high standards achieved by Dog Breeding Establishments in Ireland and the Guidelines will help to achieve this.

My Department is now identifying and developing the necessary legislative amendments required to further improve standards and enforcement.

Separately, the enforcement of welfare standards regarding all animals, including dogs, is a matter for the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine under the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013. Both Departments work together to ensure a coordinated approach is taken in this area.

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