Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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857. 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. [36062/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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My Department has overall policy responsibility for the Control of Dogs Acts 1986 to 2014. This legislation makes provision for dog licensing arrangements and the functions of dog wardens. Local Authorities have responsibility for all operational matters under the Control of Dogs Acts.

Each year 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. The Local Authority Control of Dogs Statistics Report for 2023 is at an advanced stage and I hope to be in a position to publish it shortly.

I very much appreciate all the work of Local Authorities in collating and making these statistics available to my Department. 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.