Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

600. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of people who have been prosecuted for racing sulkies on a public road in a manner that is a danger to other road users; the measures Gardaí can take when video evidence of such races emerge; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56990/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Sulky racing and related issues are primarily animal welfare-related. Matters relating to legislation concerning animal welfare and its implementation fall within the remit of the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

With regard to any criminality related to sulky racing, including road traffic and safety violations, the Garda Commissioner is responsible by law for the direction and control of An Garda Síochána, including all operational policing matters, which incorporates road traffic enforcement. As Minister I have no role in this process and cannot seek to direct the Commissioner in relation to such matters.

Management of the courts, are the responsibility of the judiciary and Courts Service, which are independent in exercising their functions under the Courts Service Act 1998. The Courts Service has a dedicated email address for the provision of information to members of the Houses of the Oireachtas: oireachtasenquiries@courts.ie.

To be of assistance to the Deputy I undertook to contact the Courts Service on your behalf and they advised that there is no specific offence on the statute book for racing sulkies on a public road in a manner that is a danger to other road users. As a result there is no data available.

Prosecutions are a matter for the Director of Public Prosecutions who is independent in the performance of her functions. As such the DPP are not a body under my remit and I have no role in the operations, functions, oversight or governance of the Office of the Director.

In respect of reporting concerns, members of the public can attend a Garda Station to make a complaint about criminality related to sulky racing and provide video footage in support of their complaint. They will be required to make a statement, prove authenticity of the video footage and undertake to attend Court as a witness in the event of Court proceedings.

In future, it is planned to provide a technical online platform to enable members of the public to submit video evidence. This will require the development of a Digital Evidence Management System (DEMS) by An Garda Síochána to store, manage and process any footage received.

This system will support the use of an online portal to facilitate the uploading and submission of video footage to An Garda Síochána by the public. Garda authorities envisage that the portal will be developed across the remainder of 2025, and 2026.