Animal Health and Welfare (Ban on Hare Coursing) Bill 2020: Second Stage [Private Members]
Dail Éireann — 2026-07-02
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Niall Collins (FF), Limerick County

I convey the apologies of the Minister, Deputy Heydon, who is unable to attend. I am taking the debate on behalf of the Government.
I wish to clearly state at the outset that the area of animal welfare is of the utmost importance to me, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Government as a whole. Our Department devotes considerable resources to protecting the well-being of animals and dealing with breaches of animal welfare legislation. The Government remains fully committed to promoting good practices that respect the welfare of all animals.
The Government fully recognises the strong views on both sides of this debate and policy area, which have been the subject of extensive debate over the years. On behalf of the Government, I am opposing the Animal Health and Welfare (Ban on Hare Coursing) Bill 2020. I will now outline the reasons. During the passage of the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013, a detailed debate was held in this House on the issue of hare coursing. The Dáil voted overwhelmingly to allow the continuation of hare coursing in accordance with certain rules. The 2013 Act in particular states that the hare can only be coursed in a space from which it has a reasonable chance of escape. If a hare is chased in a space where it has no reasonable chance of escape, it violates section 12 of the Act and constitutes a criminal animal cruelty offence. Where a specific case of animal neglect or cruelty is identified, offences may be prosecuted under the 2013 Act. When the Act was enacted, it significantly increased the penalties. On summary conviction, this may include a class A fine of up to €5,000 and, in some instances, a class A fine and-or up to six months' imprisonment. On indictment, it may include a fine of up €250,000 and or imprisonment up to five years.
I will now turn to the existing legislative and regulatory framework. Regulated muzzled coursing, operated chiefly by the Irish Coursing Club, exists under a significant and overlapping statutory framework that includes: the Wildlife Acts 1976 to 2018, the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013, the Wildlife (Wild Mammals) (Open Seasons) Order 2005, the Greyhound Industry Act 1958, and Irish Coursing Club rules, directives and guidance notes. Coursing licences carry 44 separate conditions overseen by the National Parks and Wildlife Service. Coursing meetings are supervised by the National Parks and Wildlife Service to ensure compliance with the 44 conditions associated with section 32 and 34 licenses issued by the Minister of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Browne. A panel of pre-coursing inspectors, selected for hare expertise, inspects every club in advance of a meeting and issues a certificate to course only where standards are met, with hares examined by a veterinary surgeon before, during and after every meeting. A monitoring committee on coursing is in place, comprising officials from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the Irish Coursing Club and the National Parks and Wildlife Service, to monitor developments in coursing. In that regard, the situation is kept under constant review to ensure that coursing is run in a controlled manner.
Hares are legally protected under the Wildlife Act. Catching and tagging of a hare requires strict adherence to conditions. It is illegal to catch and tag hares outside of the licensed coursing and tagging season. Additionally, hares cannot be caught using unapproved nets or within restricted areas. No hare must be coursed more than once on the day. Hares that appear sick, injured or pregnant while in captivity may not be coursed.
With regard to the scientific evidence, a 2023 study commissioned by the National Parks and Wildlife Service on survival, movements, home ranges and dispersal of hares after coursing found no significant difference in observed mortality, movement patterns, home range sizes or dispersal distances between coursed and uncoursed hares released back into the wild. A separate population study found 18 times more hares in areas managed by coursing clubs than in the wider countryside, which is direct evidence that coursing clubs' habitat management has a measurably positive effect on hare populations. The current hare casualty rate at coursing meetings is below 0.5%, down from 15.8% prior to the introduction of muzzling in 1993. In the 2025-26 season, 99.38% of the 3,020 hares netted were released back into the countryside. The Irish hare is currently assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, IUCN, as being “of least concern”. The most recent EU habitats directive report in 2019 found the conservation status of the species to be favourable and stable, comparing favourably with the majority of the other 68 protected species assessed.
I will comment on the economic and social contribution to rural Ireland. In 2022, an independent economic analysis estimated that coursing contributed approximately €70.7 million annually to the Irish economy, the vast majority of which directly benefited rural communities, with €37.9 million attributable to the life cycle of the coursing greyhound itself. The sector receives no State funding and is entirely self-resourced through club fundraising, membership and voluntary effort.
Coursing provides a strong social function for rural communities, particularly for older members during winter months. A ban would remove this voluntary activity and community infrastructure without replacing it. Regulated coursing under the Irish Coursing Club has continued for over 100 years, with individual rural coursing clubs operating across generations and membership often passed down through families and communities for well over a century. Coursing provides a structured introduction to animal care and responsibility for young people. Training a coursing greyhound and looking after hares exposes young people to the practical realities of animal husbandry on a consistent and daily basis.
We are opposing the Bill. We do not do government by referendum or opinion poll findings, as quoted by Deputy Murphy. We take a structured and regulated approach to this and other issues. While it is a minority pursuit, it does not mean it cannot continue. Under this Government, it will continue.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-07-02/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:52:14+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-02