Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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2665.To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the breakdown of the funding provided to each local authority under the dog control support initiative announced in November 2023; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31558/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Last November I was delighted to announce the establishment of a €2 million capital fund under a new Dog Control Support Initiative.

Under this initiative, funding was provided to Local Authorities to upgrade their dog pounds and shelter facilities, and to move towards cleaner, electric vehicles for dog wardens. It comes in response to the need to support Local Authority Dog Control Services and assist them in meeting increased demands on their services. The table below outlines the funding allocated per Local Authority area.

This funding will make immediate and tangible improvements to the dog control service across the country. It also fulfils a commitment in the Report of the Working Group on Dog Control to support infrastructure improvements.

I would like to acknowledge the work of dog wardens and dog control personnel, in what can often be a challenging role and reiterate my commitment to working with the Local Authorities to support their work in this area. In this context I have recently announced a further €2m for 2024 and my officials will be in contact with the Local Authorities shortly about this funding.

Dog Control Support Initiative 2023

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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2666.To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development when the local authority control of dogs statistics report for 2023 will be published; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31559/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The 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. Information up to and including 2022, including numbers of dog licenses issued, by county and in tabular form, is available on the dog control statistics page on gov.ie. My officials have requested 2023 statistics from all Local Authorities and once all returns are received, collated and analysed they will be published on gov.ie. I look forward to publishing these on gov.ie in the coming weeks.

I very much appreciate all the work of Local Authorities in collating and making statistics available. These statistics form the evidence base needed for better policy making and I look forward to continuing to work collaboratively with them in improving national policy in this area.