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Seanad Éireann · 2022-11-24

Gnó an tSeanaid - Business of Seanad

CC Mark Daly · Administrative Panel

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I asked for the Minister of State to come before the House today because I did not get an adequate response from the Department of Rural and Community Development, which has responsibility for the dog breeding establishments and the Control of Dogs Act, while animal welfare falls under the brief of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. What is the plan in the long term for dealing with the dog breeding establishments, which are churning out dogs, as if on a conveyer belt, making them readily accessible to people to get, and then, when the behavioural issues manifest or when people who are irresponsible no longer want these dogs, they are turning up at the shelters?

The Department of Rural and Community Development's 2021 dog control statistics, which are compiled from returns from all local authorities, indicate there are 34 local authority dog shelters or pounds.

Built by scoring every sentence in the debate on how distinctive its language is, then quoting the highest-scoring ones back word for word and in the order spoken. Nothing is paraphrased or invented — if a sentence appears here, it was said in the chamber. Drawn from 6,246 words across 21 contributions by 9 speakers.

Most used terms in this debate

How often each word appears across the whole debate, ranked by how distinctive it is to this debate rather than common to all parliamentary language.

dogs 21
animal 20
welfare 24
senator 28
shelters 11
dog 12
local 32
bill 25
housing 24
gps 11
rights 18
people 33

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CC Mark Daly this contribution

I have received notice from the following Senators that they propose to raise the following matters:Senator Erin McGreehan - The need for the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to engage with local authorities on the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.Senator Emer Currie - The need for the Minister for Foreign Affairs to make a statement on the UK Government's Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill.Senator Lynn Boylan - The need for the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to make a statement on current capacity issues at animal shelters.Senator Maria Byrne - The need for the Minister for Health to make a statement on the measures being taken to alleviate pressures on GPs.Senator Fintan Warfield - The need for the Minster for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to ensure the preservation and future use of the Iveagh Markets, Dublin 8.Senator Tim Lombard - The need for the Minister for Education to make a statement on capacity issues in secondary school places in Clonakilty, County Cork.Senator Seán Kyne - The need for the Minister for Health to provide an update on Saolta plans to redevelop facilities at University Hospital Galway and Merlin Park Hospital.Senator Aisling Dolan - The need for the Minister for Transport to make a statement on the closure of waiting rooms at train stations, including Ballinasloe, and train time punctuality on the Galway-Dublin line.Of the matters raised by the Senators suitable for discussion, I have selected Senators Erin McGreehan, Emer Currie, Lynn Boylan and Maria Byrne and they will be taken now. I regret that I had to rule out of order the matters raised by Senators Warfield and Dolan on the ground that the relevant Ministers have no official responsibility in the matters. The other Senators may give notice on another day of the matters they wish to raise.

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