Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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947. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will expand the annual animal welfare grant to rehoming charities with a ring-fenced subhead for rescue adoption supports (neutering, microchipping, initial veterinary check); if he will develop a standardised rehoming certificate to support any Revenue-administered adoption credit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47928/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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Animal welfare is a key priority for my Department and considerable funding is provided to support eligible animal welfare charities nationwide, through the annual Animal Welfare Grant Programme, which is administered by my Department.

The purpose of the Animal Welfare grants programme, is to provide funding to registered animal welfare charities in Ireland that are engaged in the rescue, rehoming or rehabilitation of animals, provision of veterinary services, and the provision of education on animal welfare. Awards are made on the basis of objective criteria which are reviewed annually. The awards align with the goals set out in my Department's animal welfare strategy, which was published in 2021.

In November 2024, my Department provided funding of almost €6 million to 101 animal welfare charities throughout the country. The figure awarded represents a very significant increase on previous years and greatly exceeded the Programme for Government commitment to double the €2.4 million of funding available to animal welfare charities from the 2020 budget.

The 2025 Animal Welfare Grant Programme is currently underway and a decision on the level of funding provided for welfare organisations will be made later in the year.