Animal Health and Welfare (Ban on Hare Coursing) Bill 2020: Second Stage [Private Members] Dail Éireann — 2026-07-02 ============================================================ Jennifer Whitmore (SD), Wicklow What it all comes down to is a level of empathy and what we consider to be acceptable in society and what we do not. I also want to respond to the argument about driving it underground if we do not allow it to continue. It is incredible, but in no other circumstances do we hear the argument that something is wrong but we are going to allow it to continue because if we do not, criminals will continue it any way. That is essentially what Deputy Kenny is saying. That makes absolutely no sense. If it is wrong, we deal with it; we ban it. We do not say we are not going to ban it because then we are just going to force it all underground. I completely agree with Deputy Aird. Illegal hunting is awful. Yes, we absolutely should deal with it, but let us deal with it. We do not say we are going to allow this to happen but this is awful activity on this side because it is illegal, while the legal activity is okay, because it is not. It is all cruel. He seems to enjoy his environment and appreciates looking at it but what is missing is the piece where he can connect with what an animal is feeling and whether we are inflicting pain or terror on the animal. As a nation I wish that we would start to put our principles at the forefront of what we do and ensure that we just do not tolerate any cruelty. That is what the public want. That is what voters want. I can never understand how issues like this, the fox-hunting Bill or the legislation on puppy farms get the support of the Government. It is not a rural-urban thing. There is a very small minority of people in this country who want those kinds of activities to be going on For some reason, the Government has their back and continues to fight for that small minority, when governments all over the world are recognising that this is not something that modern society should be involved in. The Government and, unfortunately, Sinn Féin in opposition are also supporting it. I honestly do not know who is in the Government's ear or how their lobbying is so strong that it continues to defend the indefensible when it comes to animal cruelty. I really hope that over the next week every person out there, the 77% of the population of the Republic who oppose this, writes to their TDs and expresses their voice on this. What we need is for that voice to be heard in this Chamber, and not the voices of the very small minority of people who are making money from this or gaining whatever benefit they gain - I do not understand it - and that it is not those people dictating what happens in this Chamber and dictating our legislation. The majority of people want to see reforms in this area and want a Government that has empathy and will not tolerate animal cruelty. I hope that those people make their voices heard and that the Government listens. I know there are some TDs in Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael who do not agree with hare coursing and I ask that they be given an opportunity to express their opinion, to represent their constituents and their values. It would be very unfair to expect someone to vote against this Bill when it goes against every grain of integrity or every principle they have when it comes to animal cruelty. --- 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/dail/2026-07-02/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:52:14+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-07-02