Animal Welfare
Seanad Éireann — 2026-06-18
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Martin Heydon (FG), Kildare South

Obviously, I am in the hands of the Oireachtas on the timing of the legislation. There will be pre-legislative scrutiny through the agriculture committee where members will be able to have their say. The Chair of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture and Food, Deputy Aindrias Moynihan, is working with me to have that fast-tracked and take place before the summer recess with legislation to be introduced early in the autumn. I am determined to deliver on this very quickly.
The Bill addresses concerns about excessive numbers through many means. The Senator referenced the cap. When talking about the 20 dogs, that is the staffing ratio that will come into place; it does not exist at the minute. There is no staffing ratio for the number of staff per breeding animals. The mandatory staffing ratio will be 1:20. That creates an indirect but real constraint on establishment size. The Senator is talking about capping and, as I said, there is a whole legislative process to go through here. What is the size of the premises? Are we talking about a garage or a warehouse? What is the appropriate number of dogs in each of them? The cap is quite a crude instrument in itself. There are many constraints in this proposed legislation that do not exist at the minute.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-06-18/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:05+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-18