Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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59. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development if she or her Department officials have had discussions with Cavan County Council and Monaghan County Council on dog control matters, given the recent sad incident in Limerick; what her Department plans on doing on this matter regarding dangerous breeds; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25630/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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My Department of Rural and Community Development has overall policy responsibility for the Control of Dogs Acts 1986 to 2014. Local Authorities have responsibility for all operational matters under the Control of Dogs Acts including licensing and enforcement.

My Department publishes annual statistics in respect of a range of the dog control responsibilities of local authorities. My officials have requested 2023 statistics from all Local Authorities, including Cavan and Monaghan, and I look forward to publishing these on Gov.ie in the coming weeks.

These statistics form the evidence base needed for better policy making and I appreciate all the work of the local authorities in collating and making the statistics available,. I look forward to continuing to work collaboratively with all Local Authorities for better enforcement of legislation and improving Dog Control policy.

In March 2024 I announced the establishment of a high level stakeholder group to consider and make recommendations to strengthen policy in relation to these issues. The group is independently chaired by retired Deputy Garda Commissioner Mr John Twomey and is comprised of members with a broad range of expertise.

The work of the stakeholder group is complex in nature requiring full consideration of all aspects of both pieces of legislation under the remit of my Department and this will take some time. However, in view of recent events, I have asked the Chair to prioritise the issue of Restricted Dogs and this will be the first issue to be considered by the stakeholder group at its next meeting to be held later this month. I expect the group to revert to me with recommendations on the matter as soon as possible once they have considered all issues arising.