Animal Welfare
Dail Éireann — 2026-05-07
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Martin Heydon (FG), Kildare South

In trying to prepare for this debate, I was not sure which element of horse welfare and dog welfare the Deputy would raise. I will amend what I will say on the basis of the targeted nature of her question. We have done a lot in the area of equine control and supporting equine charities and animal welfare charities in general in terms of the work I do in my Department as well as on supporting the different elements. We have a number of urban horse projects and so on and they are really positive. From 2015 to date, we have spent about €2.1 million on urban horse projects, and €170,000 was allocated for these projects in 2026. My Department would welcome submissions from local authorities on other projects.
The Deputy specifically mentioned sulky racing, which I have huge concern about. It is important to say that responsibility for animal welfare rests with the owner of the animal and the person whose care the animal is in. Sulky racing on roads comes under the Department of Transport and, as the Deputy said, the Garda Síochána as well. My Department does work in the area of enforcement. We have the legislation around harness racing on roads. We have to be able to identify the organiser and that is difficult to do in many instances. It is the organiser who is liable in that regard. I am having engagement with my colleague, the Minister for Transport, while also looking at it from the justice side as well because I am deeply uncomfortable with the images we have seen on our motorways, which are completely unacceptable. It is lawlessness. It is not appropriate behaviour. From an animal welfare perspective, it is absolutely terrible. It is also a road safety issue on many fronts. It is something that is not acceptable to me and something I hope, through working with colleagues in government, we can have further action on.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-05-07/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:46+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-07