Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)
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137. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of horses seized in Cork city to date in 2025. [54734/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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My Department is responsible for all policy and legislation in relation to the Control of Horses Act 1996. Operation of the Act comes under the remit of Local Authorities.

Under the Control of Horses Act 1996, local authorities may take a range of actions in relation to equines, including prohibiting horses in certain areas, issuing licences and seizing horses in contravention of the Act. These powers can be used in respect of straying horses, which includes horses put on land without the owner’s permission, including public land. Local authorities may also prosecute offenders.

My Department provides financial support to help local authorities with the costs of these seizures.

My Department also collects information in respect of the overall number of equines seized from local authorities on a quarterly basis. Currently, only the figures relating to quarter one and quarter two of this year, are available, below:

The number of horses seized in Cork City in quarter one and quarter two of 2025 is 40.