Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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580. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of dog attacks on livestock reported to An Garda Síochána in each of the years 2016 to date, by county or similar geographic unit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15121/23]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will appreciate, the Local Authorities are responsible for reporting figures relating to the Control of Dogs Acts to the Department of Rural and Community Development (DCRD).

These statistics, which include incidents of reported livestock worrying by Local Authority, can be accessed at the following link:

www.gov.ie/en/collection/879d4c-dog-control-statistics/

It is my understanding that DRCD advised the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine in February that figures for 2022 are being compiled and will be published later this year.

The Garda Commissioner is responsible for the management and administration of Garda business by law, which includes the management of the Garda PULSE system. As Minister I have no role in these independent functions.

To be of assistance to the Deputy I have contacted the Garda authorities and have been advised that the below table shows the number of incidents of 'Dog Offences' recorded on PULSE where the incident narrative indicated that livestock was attacked during the incident.

It should be noted that these figures are operational and subject to change. Figures less than 10 are not reported for data protection reasons. Figures for 2023 are up to and including 26 March 2023.