Legislative Measures Dail Éireann — 2026-05-19 ============================================================ Christopher O'Sullivan (FF), Cork South-West I thank Deputy Murphy from the bottom of my heart for raising this issue. It is such an important one to raise in Dáil Éireann. The behaviour and the actions of some of the people driving these sulkies is deplorable. It is disgusting. We have all seen the videos. We have seen the sad footage of horses losing their lives in the cruellest of ways. We can imagine the pain those animals go through. That is the worst we have seen but excessive use of the whip is always common. A lot of these animals appear undernourished as it is. There are big animal welfare issues. Of course, there is also the whole issue of road safety, where people's lives are put at risk. This has to be clamped down and I completely agree with Deputy Murphy. It is very important that we do not confuse this with legal harness racing which is licensed. It happens on tracks and is done in a professional way where animal welfare is paramount and the animals are looked after in the best way. I can tell Deputy Murphy that sector is disgusted with what it sees on some of the roads in Ireland. I thank Deputy Murphy for raising this. It is important to note that the drivers of all vehicles used on public roads, including horse-drawn carriages, are required to comply with road traffic legislation and to behave in a safe manner paying due care to other road users. The enforcement of such road traffic legislation is first and foremost a matter for An Garda Síochána. The Deputy will be aware that the Roads Act 1993 includes provisions for road races involving persons, vehicles or animals, and the temporary closure of public roads to facilitate a road race. Under section 74 of the Act, any person intending to hold, organise, or promote a road race on a public road must notify and obtain the approval of the local authority and the superintendent of An Garda Síochána within whose district the race is to be held. A race which is not licensed is illegal, with penalties for the organiser. However, the offence applies only to the organiser and I understand that in many cases of sulky races there is no identifiable organiser. Enforcing the Roads Act where a road race takes place unlawfully without the permission of the local authority, as the roads authority, is a matter of enforcement for An Garda Síochána. In a situation where there is an illegal race, with no notice given, it is a matter for gardaí to enforce section 74(4) of the Roads Act 1993. Participants in sulky racing are liable for any road traffic offence they may commit during the races. In many cases of sulky racing there is also considerable danger caused by vehicles following the race and, in some cases, driving alongside on the other side of the road. In these cases too, the drivers can be held liable under the Road Traffic Acts. Other legislation is in place in relation to animal welfare matters, which are a matter for the Minister for agriculture. I understand that the Control of Horses Act 1996 includes provisions in relation to An Garda Síochána's powers of seizure and detention, the minimum age to obtain a horse licence and the selling of a horse to a person under the age of 16 years. The Act also provides that An Garda Síochána may compel individuals in control of horses to obtain necessary attention from a vet if the horse is in pain, distress, neglect or is severely injured, diseased or in need of attention. Failure to comply is an offence. In addition, under the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013, people in possession of a protected animal, including horses, must ensure the animal is kept and treated in a manner that safeguards their health and welfare. Failure to do this is considered an offence under that Act. --- 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/2026-05-19/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:46+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-05-19