Animal Welfare
Seanad Éireann — 2026-02-19
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Timmy Dooley (FF), Clare

I concur with the Senator regarding the volunteers involved in the various rescue efforts out there. I thank them sincerely for the work they do, and there is some financial support there.
I take the Senator's point regarding legislation, but you can have all the legislative provisions you want,and there is a considerable amount, but there is not an operational campaign or capacity to address it. Listening to what he has said and thinking as we are discussing the matter, there is certainly room for a co-ordinated approach to addressing this issue. The legislative provisions are there in respect of sulky racing, but it is about addressing it when it happens. I see it in my own constituency, where, on Sunday mornings or at times when there is less traffic on the road, a small cohort of people will carry on. That needs to be targeted. In the first instance, a useful tool to address this might be for some section of the local authority to act as a co-ordinator, identified with local councillors, etc., to try to bring the policing component in and the funding structure for services that cater for poorly treated or badly maintained animals. There is solid legislation to address this, but it is in putting that legislation into operation that there seems to be a gap. That might be something some of the Senator's colleagues on the local authority might try to bring together with some effort in that area. I am sure the Government will support that.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-02-19/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:39+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-19