Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 8 October 2026
20. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will include the recommendations of animal welfare organisations (details supplied), as outlined during pre-legislative scrutiny, into the dog breeding establishments (amendment) Bill 2026, before that Bill is brought to First Stage. [71025/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraDeputy O'Gorman may want to move on from his Question No. 16 to Question No. 20, or whichever question.
I will take Question No. 20. I thank the Leas Cheann-Comhairle.
We are a nation of dog lovers and the conditions in which many puppies are bred in this country is a growing source of concern to people. We had a detailed debate on dog breeding in this House a couple of months ago. I and Deputies across the House spoke on the issue. I welcome the fact the Minister is bringing forward a dog breeding establishments (amendment) Bill but it is not strong enough. Will he listen to the issues that were raised in the pre-legislative scrutiny, PLS, process?
We agree that there is an issue here that needs to be resolved. I hope the Deputy takes at face value my determination and ambition to address anomalies and to address gaps that allow for some bad practices I am deeply concerned about but also to recognise that there are some people who do dog breeding very well in this country and who are passionate about it. For them, there is nothing to fear from my proposed legislation because this will shine a light on good practice and eradicate any bad practice, or the possibility of bad practice should it continue.
In regard to the Deputy's question on whether I will listen or engage, that is part of what the legislative process of this House is. That is the beauty of it. On 19 May this year, as the Deputy knows, I introduced draft legislation - the dog breeding establishments (amendment) Bill 2026. I brought that to Cabinet to update the existing regulatory framework for dog breeding establishments across three key areas: welfare and breeding, sales and record-keeping, and administration and enforcement. The dog breeding establishments (amendment) Bill 2026 represents a significant update to dog breeding regulation in Ireland since the original Act of 2010. It has been too long. I know there were changes to regulations in 2018 but we are overdue in changing this legislation.
As the Deputy knows, that process is going through pre-legislative scrutiny before the Oireachtas committee on agriculture. It had its second engagement on that yesterday. That is before the full Bill comes back before the Dáil for the five Stages of legislation between the Dáil, the Seanad and the Oireachtas committee. I will work with all colleagues in this House to make sure this is robust legislation.
It is something I am determined about. I was a Minister of State in the Department of agriculture previously. I was a member of the negotiating team for the programme for Government. I actively looked to get it into the programme for Government so we could transfer the Control of Dogs Act and the Dog Breeding Establishment Act and bring them under the Department of agriculture. Local authorities still have an enforcement role, which is really important. Having those Acts under my remit allows me to act and come with really robust legislation that will make a significant change in how dog breeding practices are carried out in this country.
I thank the Minister. I am happy to take his commitment to advancing this legislation, ensuring it is strong and that some of the egregious abuses of dogs taking place in certain dog breeding establishments are ended. I look forward to working with him throughout the process.
A couple of key points came up in the PLS process, including the definition of a dog breeding establishment and how many breeding bitches had to be there. At the moment, the proposal is for around six breeding bitches. From there up is a dog breeding establishment. Draft EU legislation is looking at three, which is significantly lower. Is there a reason what is being proposed in the Minister's legislation is significantly higher than draft EU legislation?
The other issue of real concern is the ratio of staff to breeding bitches. A ratio of 1:25 is proposed. That is a huge number of bitches and puppies that a staff member is responsible for. Will the Minister consider reducing this as the process goes forward?
On a high level, the nature of legislation is that when I bring forward proposals here, I am taking on board the points and discussions that are happening at the joint Oireachtas committee's pre-legislative scrutiny. It will have its observations back. Every Member, from Second Stage through Committee Stage and in the Seanad, will have their say here as well. I will take those points of view on board. I will also highlight and take on board the legal advice I get and challenges in that space.
In simple terms, let us be clear. There are so many people who have a much-loved family dog at home and if they think back, they bought it off someone from a website and they met someone in a public car park. They exchanged money for it and happily have that dog at home. They have no knowledge of where it was bred; the conditions its mother was in before or after; how many litters that mother had in a year; or how many other dogs were in that breeding establishment. We are going to change that completely. People will not be able to purchase a new much-loved family pet or dog unless they go to the establishment in which it was bred. They will need to be able to see that the mother is there. We are going to have limits on how much breeding can happen. The types of rules that people expect are in place, and which should be in place, will be put in place with this legislation.
I thank the Minister and I recognise the passion with which he has spoken about this. However, it is these key details I am highlighting that will determine whether the legislation he brings forward makes that change. I recognise we are at the start of the process but strengthening those elements is really important.
I know the Minister's Department is represented on the dog control stakeholders group. It has a report that has been completed. It has not been published for some time. Does the Minister have any update on when that report will be published?
One of the key issues that came up in the PLS process was the question of the size of establishments. Ultimately, some of these establishments, as was raised by another Deputy earlier, are absolutely massive and raise concerns about the ability of staff to look at the individual welfare of dogs and puppies. That has to be something the Minister's draft legislation deals with appropriately.
There is a huge amount of detail. There are 17 different elements to the draft legislation. What I will publish is a very extensive draft legislation, as heads of Bills go.
For the first time, dog breeding establishments will be legally required to employ a minimum of one full-time staff member for every 20 breeding females on the premises, ensuring animals receive proper daily care and attention. That, in itself, is a significant cap on what the size of an establishment could be in terms of needing full-time equivalent staff.
A strengthened improvement notice regime will explicitly empower authorised persons to require a reduction in the number of dogs on premises where welfare concerns arise. Authorised persons will be empowered to seize dogs from establishments where an offence is suspected at registered and unregistered elements.
Fines of up to €250,000 and prison sentences of up to five years will be available for indictment for the most serious offences, improving the deterrent effect of penalties for breaches because they are not sufficient right now. There is a lot of money being made out of the breeding of dogs so severe penalties are needed to impact that.
I look forward to working with the Deputy and other Members of the House on this legislation as it progresses.
Deputy O'Gorman's next question is Question No. 25 but given the short time that is left, we will leave it.
