Control of Dogs (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024: Second Stage Seanad Éireann — 2024-06-11 ============================================================ Heather Humphreys (FG), Cavan-Monaghan I thank Senators Erin McGreehan, Micheál Carrigy, Malcolm Byrne and Aisling Dolan for bringing forward this Private Members’ Bill. As Senator McGreehan said, I am pleased to inform the House that the Government is not opposing the Bill. While I realise this Bill does not relate directly to the situation with regard to restricted breeds, in light of the recent tragic incident in Limerick, at the outset I wish to extend my sympathy to the family and friends of Nicole Morey. My thoughts and prayers are with them at this terrible time. My thoughts are also with those who were injured and hospitalised in Cork last week following a further horrific dog attack. Last year, following the attack on Alejandro Mizsan, a young boy in Wexford, the Government decided to take a number of actions in respect of dog control. Northern Ireland is now looking at introducing similar restrictions. As someone who comes from the Border region, we should not be out of step with Northern Ireland on this. I am consulting with the Attorney General on how a ban on the XL Bully would work in Ireland and what legislative changes may be required to give effect to this. That work is under way. I know some people will not want to hear that today. They will tell me they own an XL Bully and it would never hurt anyone, but I cannot ignore the facts. The XL Bully was the dog involved in the attack on Alejandro Mizsan in Wexford and it was also the dog involved in the attack in Limerick last week which killed Nicole Morey. We all love our dogs but no dog’s life is worth more than human life. While it is true that any dog can bite you, consider the damage an XL Bully can do compared to a Jack Russell. The history of these dogs is they were bred to be aggressive. It is in their nature. I have asked the stakeholder group to prioritise work on restricted breeds and I will meet with it later this month to hear its views. We are also looking at other countries like Denmark and France which have implemented similar bans to see what we can learn from their experience and how it is working on the ground. The ban of the XL Bully in the UK has been the subject of a judicial review and therefore, it is important we get this right. Finally, I thank the Senators for bringing forward this Bill today and for giving me the opportunity to discuss these very important issues. I will be asking the stakeholder group to examine the Bill and consider its proposals as part of the broader package of measures we will bring forward to strengthen our dog control legislation in Ireland. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2024-06-11/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:53:03+00:00 Sitting date: 2024-06-11