I thank the Deputy. In December last year, I announced a record allocation of over €5.8 million in funding for 99 animal welfare charities throughout the country, under the animal welfare grants programme. That figure exceeded the commitment in the programme for Government, which was to double the funding allocated within two years. It marks the largest award of grant funding ever to animal welfare bodies by my Department. On 30 June I launched this year's grants programme. I remain committed to the continued suppo…

I thank the Deputy. It is important the matter is raised here in the Dáil and highlighted, particularly in advance of the budget. Since we came into office, the Government has doubled the funding. We are very much aware of the challenges many are facing, the important work they are doing and the need for us to support those charities at Government level as well as supporting public advocacy about the work involved in caring for an animal and deciding to have a pet. Members of the public can also make an important c…

I am happy to meet the Deputy further on this. I know he has been a strong advocate for this matter and the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine has given its attention to it. I am certainly happy to continue to work with him to make progress on it. We have work to do; there are real challenges in some parts of the country. The welfare of all horses is not where it should be. We have to work together to make sure there is not space for that to be the case. We have to work with all agencies…

As a small open economy, international trade and the global rules-based system which supports that trade are critical for the continued development of the Irish economy. In the case of the Irish agri-food sector, our exports are very high quality. They are sustainably produced goods and we export them to some 180 countries around the world. This highlights the importance of the rules-based trading system for our agri-food sector. It is clear that the global economy is facing many new challenges, including those ass…

It is a really important principle. In order to be fair to our food producers domestically and across the EU, where high standards are set in food safety and sustainability, those same standards should be required of countries we would trade with. Ultimately that food is coming into the same market and competing with the food we produce. It should be meeting the same standard of production. That is very important with regard to the trade deals being carried out that that is an approach in principle which applies an…

We need to ensure that is the case. It has not always been the case in the past that the same attention has been paid to the requirements and the oversight of what is coming in compared to what we do within our own borders. With regard to trade deals, which are being renewed or are being initiated for the first time, that question has to be to the forefront. The standards have to be the same. We have to be assured that those standards are being met and fulfilled with regard to how these products are being produced.…

I know the Deputy knows the history of it well. There is a very strong Government commitment to protecting the zero-to-six-mile zone for inshore fishers in particular. A decision was taken and a policy was implemented by the previous Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Creed, who had a very strong commitment to this. Unfortunately -----

The court made a decision on a technical matter -----

----- and that had to be revisited. The court handed down its decision four months ago. We are considering it now. I plan to bring clarity as to how we move forward. As outlined on numerous occasions, it is my objective-----

----- to continue to protect that zero-to-six mile zone. I hope in the next few weeks to be able to bring clarity on how we go forward. If we do it, there will be a need to do the process all over again.

These amendments have come back from the Seanad following further engagement on the Bill. Amendment No. 2 is necessary to alter the definition of "companion animals" to set out that the animals concerned are to be kept for domestic purposes only. By way of an example, this is to ensure that when this Bill applies to companion animals, we are not putting dogs used in racing in breeding, or animals kept in a zoo, into that same category. Amendment No. 3 is necessary to allow the Minister to make regulations in respec…

I think so.

Amendment No. 5 is necessary to allow me to make regulations for dispensing of veterinary medicinal products in a research environment. Amendment No. 7 is necessary as the matter is deemed substantive. This provision continues the current practice of allowing a veterinarian not to provide a veterinary prescription for a companion animal if the owner of the animal agrees. The owner of such an animal may, of course, request a prescription and a prescription must be issued in such circumstances.

If he was on commission, he would be worth a fortune.

I thank the Senator for his amendments. I have considered them all carefully and looked at them in detail with regard to their content and merit, and I see where he is coming from in a number of them. There has been a good process in respect of the legislation coming through the Dáil and in the Seanad as well. If necessary, I would not have any problem going back to the Dáil regarding any amendments that I felt would absolutely have to be accommodated. However, there are ways of accommodating the Senator’s amendmen…

I know this is something Senators Boyhan, Lombard, Boylan and Daly would have looked at in detail with other joint committee members as part of the pre-legislative scrutiny process. The pre-legislative scrutiny report recommended that the new body be obliged to examine with a view to proposing mechanisms by which the purchase of foodstuffs below the cost of production could be introduced. As a result, the Bill provides mechanisms for the regulator to examine and make recommendations on any aspect of the agrifood su…

I thank Senators Boyhan and Boylan for raising this important point. It is an important point and it is important that it gets an airing in terms of the legislation going through so we can be clear on the thought process and where we would like to go. It has received an airing previously. The objective is to make sure there is no impediment to people making complaints. In terms of the legislation, it provides that a fee can be attached to a complaint, and that it can be set by regulation. The idea is that in the ev…

I would never advise a Senator as to what he or she should do.

I will be open to consultation on it at any stage. I have outlined clearly where I am coming from on it. It is there as an enabling mechanism.

Yes, it would be by regulation.