FIANNA FÁIL and Green TDs and Senators clashed over the Dog Breeding Establishments Bill at a packed select environment committee meeting.
Fianna Fáil TD John O’Donoghue said there was concern among rural dwellers the proposed legislation was going to lead to further legislative measures that would “interfere with if not destroy” country pursuits.
“There’s a feeling out there in the countryside among those involved in pursuits of a rural nature . . . that this legislation, whilst welcome in some respects, is the thin end of the wedge,” he said. Mr O’Donoghue said while he did not believe Minister for the Environment John Gormley wished to “sow doubt in people’s minds”, the Green Party leader also had a “duty” to reassure rural dwellers about their hobbies.
Fianna Fáil TD Máire Hoctor claimed backbenchers had not been consulted about a ban on stag hunting contained in the programme for government, agreed between Fianna Fáil and the Greens.
Ms Hoctor said the “preference” of the Greens was to ban other forms of hunting. “That’s not part of a programme for government I’m part of,” she said. Another Fianna Fáil TD, Mattie McGrath, suggested some animal welfare activists were “nothing short of terrorists”.
Green TD Trevor Sargent said he took exception to the inference that people concerned about animal welfare were “one step away from terrorists”. Responding to the suggestion from a number of Fianna Fáil TDs that the 1958 Greyhound Industry Act could be amended rather than new legislation introduced, Mr Sargent said statistics indicated it was not adequate in terms of breeding.
“We’re implementing a programme for government that was agreed. End of story,” Mr Sargent said. Green Senator Mark Deary said: “There is no big Green agenda here . . . it does what it says on the tin. It’s a Bill to regulate dog breeding establishments . . . to try to present it as the thin end of the wedge is disingenuous,”
Fine Gael TD Tom Hayes said Mr Gormley should make a statement to the Dáil in the next few days to alleviate people’s concerns.
Mr Hayes’ party colleague Shane McEntee said “it was wrong to even touch stag hunting”.
The legislation will regulate the operation of dog breeding establishments, require local authorities to establish and maintain registers of dog breeding establishments and prohibit the operation of unregistered establishments.
