Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

653. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development if she will provide the control of dogs statistics for 2023 and for January to October 2024, in tabular form. [40075/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

My Department has overall policy responsibility for the Control of Dogs Acts. 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. Statistics for 2024 will be collected and collated from local authorities in 2025, and published on gov.ie.

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.