Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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224. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the considerations made since on the measures to consider whether exemptions can be made to the leashing and muzzling requirements for dogs that have been provided with appropriate levels of accredited training, as referred to in the April 2022 report on the control of dogs; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43484/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Control of Dogs Acts set out a range of requirements for all dog owners or any other person in charge of a dog. S.I. No. 442/1998, the Control of Dogs Regulations 1998, sets out further requirements that owners of specific breeds of dogs, including strains or crosses of those breeds, have to follow. Such dogs must be muzzled and led, on a sufficiently strong leash or chain not exceeding 2 metres in length, by a competent person over 16 years of age, when in a public place.

In 2019, my Department conducted a public consultation on measures relating to the control of dogs in Ireland. Approximately 1,000 submissions were received during the public consultation stage and they touched on a wide ranging and complex number of issues which required analysis, further consultation with stakeholders and an exploration of approaches in other jurisdictions.

Based on this public consultation, the report referred to "A review of measures relating to the control of dogs in Ireland" was published in April 2022 and a selection of the submissions received were also published alongside the report. While my Department indicated in the report that consideration would be given to whether exemptions could be made to the muzzling and leashing requirements for restricted breeds, it stated that its immediate priority was to continue to promote a culture of responsible dog ownership. Accordingly, to date, no decision has been made to make any exemption to the legal requirement to leash or muzzle a dog on the "restricted breeds" list.

In March 2024, I announced the establishment of a high level stakeholder group to consider the policy and legislative matters under the remit of my Department, specifically the Dog Control Acts and the Dog Breeding Establishments Act. The work of the Stakeholder Group on Dog Control will include consideration of further legislative measures regarding restricted breeds and will inform any necessary future actions with regard to dog control.