Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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42. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide an update on his Department’s plans to simplify and modernise the Control of Horses Act 1996 as per the summer legislative programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25706/24]

Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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Will the Minister provide an update on the Department's plans to simplify and modernise the Control of Horses Act, 1996, as per the summer legislative programme?

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy O'Sullivan for raising this issue. I will take the opportunity to briefly address the "RTÉ Investigates" programme that aired last night. The scenes we saw on the programme were shocking and appalling. The mistreatment of horses that we saw was absolutely unacceptable. We have strict laws in this country in relation to the welfare of animals as well as the traceability of animals. It was very distressing to watch that. My Department is already working with the gardaí investigating those particular instances and the full rigours of the law will be applied in relation to that. It is also important to say that it is not reflective of the care and attention or the lives that our horses are afforded and the welfare that is taken so seriously by people in the industry. However, we were all shocked by what we saw last night. It simply will not be tolerated.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue, particularly as we take equine welfare and traceability seriously. There is a commitment in the programme for Government to prioritise equine welfare and to build on existing inspectorate supports throughout the country, ensuring a consistent approach to dealing with horse welfare. My Department provides funding to local authorities as a contribution towards the costs incurred by them in the operation of the Control of Horses Act 1996. Enforcement of the Act is a matter for each relevant authority.

The Control of Horses Act 1996 is currently under review within my Department. Plans for replacement legislation are well advanced. The aim of this replacement legislation is to simplify and clarify procedures in the Act in terms of seizure and disposal of horses. My Department undertook a stakeholder consultation late last year on the control of horses legislation with submissions sought by November last. Four submissions were received. These were from the Veterinary Council of Ireland, the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Burren Rescue and the County and City Management Association.

Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister for his reply. I know from the sentiments he expressed that he will look at the issues raised in the "RTÉ Investigates" programme last night and deal with them appropriately.

To be fair, the Department has provided a significant increase in funding for local authorities and animal welfare charities in recent years but the images last night are quite stark, as the Minister has expressed. The fundamental issue ? traceability and the licensing of horses needs to be investigated fully and powers need to be strengthened. This is something I have raised with the Minister. I have a Bill, which I have not yet submitted, which I had circulated to the Minister’s special adviser. Something has to change in the licensing and tracing of horses. It is estimated that anything up to a third of all horses in the country are unregistered for various reasons.

I acknowledge the Minister’s comments and will follow up afterwards with a supplementary.

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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There have been significant actions in the past ten years to improve the traceability and identification of horses. In 2014, the central equine database was introduced. Prior to that, microchipping was introduced. More recently, since 2021 an annual horse census takes place and their places of residence must be registered with the Department too. There has been an online portal since last year where any member of the public can check a horse microchip and see the full record of the horse. We are also progressing e-passports for horses, which will digitise it and mean the information is available in real time as well as improving traceability.

It will also be important that we work across Europe to make sure the cross-European system is robust. We need to work further on this to make sure, given the journey travelled in recent years, that we get to a point where the system is very robust, not only in our own country but at European level.

Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the improvements but it is worth highlighting that, under current legislation, responsibility for ensuring the welfare of animals, horses in this case, falls on the owner of the animal. I am concerned about this, with yesterday’s programme in mind. I do not think what was contained in the programme was that surprising to some of us who have followed this over recent years. I am concerned that responsibility is placed on the animal owner and I am not sure about the role of others. I know the local authority has power and the Garda and the Department of agriculture have some powers, but it is about enforcement. The purpose of my Bill that I had produced was to introduce the role of an equine officer to local authorities. A person like that, who would be responsible for a register and for seizing on the spot animals that are not registered, with no messing around or falling between the cracks, as it were, between the various authorities, is probably something we should look at.

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy O'Sullivan for his commitment to this issue and to improving it, taking it forward and for being proactive in producing legislation to help address and contribute to this area. We are reviewing the control of horses legislation with the objective of ensuring enforcement is as strong as it possibly can be. I am happy to engage with the Deputy on his ideas on that and the proposals in his Bill to see how it can be considered in that context. I thank Deputy O’Sullivan for raising it today and for his ongoing work.