George Lawlor demands stricter dog-breeding laws, backs Stout's Law

We are asking the Minister if you will outdine the measures being taken to strengthen existing animal welfare laws and enforcement mechanisms, if his department intends to engage with campaign representatives to progress the aims of the proposed Stout's Law and if you will make a statement on the matter. Thank you Deputy. Neglect of or causing unnecessary suffering to animals is not acceptable in our society or in any circumstance. The programme for Government places a positive emphasis on animal welfare and specifically commits to continued robust enforcement of the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013 which provides a modern framework for regulating and applying standards in the area of animal health and welfare and indeed in my first term as a TD between 2011 and 2016 I was a member of the Agriculture Committee and I remembered many, many weeks of work on that really comprehensive piece of legislation because it brought together so many historic pieces of legislation under one Act. My department has lead responsibility within Government for animal welfare and takes the matter of animal welfare most seriously. I am committed to the policy that animal welfare standards are vigorously applied in a fair and even-handed manner. All reports of alleged animal neglect or cruelty are investigated and appropriate action is taken. My department and authorised officers appointed under the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013 including but not limited to on Garda Shukana, customs agents and local authorities undertake appropriate enforcement action where breaches or shortcomings are identified. My department keeps the Act under review in light of the key developments in the area of animal welfare, the legislative environment more generally and having regard to the practical lessons learned from the operating Act. Policy and legislative responsibility for dog breeding establishments transferred to my department on the 1st of August 2025. Local authorities retain responsibility for all operational implementation and enforcement matters. A high level stakeholder group was established last year to consider policy and legislative matters, specifically the dog control acts and the dog breeding establishment act. The stakeholder group's remit includes considering the need for legislative change. This requires in-depth analysis and consultation to ensure that amendments are not just robust, fit for purpose and implementable, but that they also deliver the best outcome for communities. Thank you Minister and thank you for your supportive words. This proposed campaign was inspired by a young pup called Stout who suffered from severe health difficulties arising from malnutrition, poor breeding practice and the unsanitary conditions that he was kept and the campaign is led by two people in Wexford called Tara O'Connor and Kevin Keegan and they are proposing some reasonable legislation and that the legislation be amended to place a more exacting standard on dog breeders. You know legislation they believe must mandate a firm commitment on the part of dog breeders to safeguard the welfare of the animal with an explicit reference to freedom from discomfort and freedom to express normal behaviour. In a legal context, pets currently fall under the definition of personal property and Stout's law would aim to redefine pets as beings with intrinsic needs. Backyard breeders tend to escape oversight and potential incidents of mistreatment can only come to light where, for instance, neighbours may raise concerns. There is no dedicated Garda unit to deal with the issues of animal cruelty. Dog breeding and established guidelines deal with important issues including animal housing, hygiene, exercise, registration but it is important that the enforcement of these is in place and local authorities, despite their best efforts, are not in a position to enforce as we would like. Thank you. Deputy Dug, my department is committed to reviewing all legislation relating to dogs and in this regard will be guided by the recommendations of the dog control stakeholder group. I expect the group to revert to me with recommendations on the matter in due course. In the meantime, I am fully committed to progressing the work in this area. My department is also aware of the campaign that you reference and will consider all views when reviewing legislation. If members of the public are aware of any issues, and this is really, really important, of suspected abuse or neglect, they can contact my department, we have a helpline phone number, we have a direct email address where any fears people have are dealt with in a very confidential manner but are investigated and followed through on. That is really important for people to know as well. We also have EU cats and dogs regulations being worked on at present on an EU-wide level and my department and other member states are currently engaged in consultation around new proposals on European regulation in relation to welfare and traceability of dogs and cats. This includes provisions to ensure the breeding strategies do not include genotypes that have a detrimental effect on the health or welfare of dogs and cats. When that regulation is passed, it will be applicable to all member states including Ireland. Thank you Minister. I welcome the word of the high-level group. I mean, I mean the 2000 Act and 10 Act as it stands permits there could be upwards of 300 breeding dogs on site. The 2010 Act also permits that one full-time staff member to 25 breeding bitches is sufficient. We're looking for a more sensible number of breeding bitches. We believe that 15 is a sensible cap that will enable breeders to run a proper sanitation program and perform regular welfare acts on all the animals. The staff to dog ratio should be set at 1 to 15 and this should be set out in the legislation as opposed to being contained in dog breeding establishment guidelines. The cap on breeding bitches specified above should only increase in tandem with the staff headcount to guarantee that minimum standards of animal health care are met. We have a serious, serious problem in Ireland in the context of animal welfare in breeding establishments and it's something we simply have to grab by the scruff of the neck and tackle and I welcome your comments, Minister, in that regard. Thank you, Deputy. Minister? And look, as I say, we're reviewing legislation. This is a responsibility that's come in to my domain in the last number of months but something as a deputy who was part of the negotiating team and the programme for government who was coming from having been a Minister of State in the Department of Agriculture I was really keen that this came in under agriculture. I thought it was the right fit and it's the right place to be. So this is something that, mindful that I could have been in this role that I was very keen to see there and I'm glad it's there and I do want to work on and progress during my time as Minister here. And just to say in relation to the sale of pets that you've outlined there my department introduced an animal health and welfare sale or supply of pet animals regulation a statutory instrument previously. These regulations put into law certain requirements for sellers and suppliers of pet animals including the minimum age for the sale of certain mammals record-keeping registration with my department and the provision of specific information about pet in advertisements. Under these regulations anyone who sells or supplies six or more pet animals in a year must register with my department and must submit an inspection report signed by the private veterinary practitioner as part of the registration process. But look, we review every measure and make sure if it's not as robust as we would like we'll change and we'll make them even more robust. So I look forward to working with you on this. We'll move now to question 104, taking place.