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147. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when he expects to be able to provide an up-to-date figure for the economic value of the greyhound racing industry only to the economy of the Republic of Ireland, given that the figure currently being used is based on data which is six years old, and includes hare coursing greyhounds in the Republic of Ireland, as…

53. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the amount of State funding provided to hare coursing; if his Department has estimates on the revenue generated by hare coursing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52312/26]

230. Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the current economic value of the greyhound racing industry to the economy here not including a figure for the economic value of hare coursing in the island of Ireland, or for greyhound racing and hare coursing greyhounds in Northern Ireland (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8289/25…

42. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to provide evidence for a claim made in the Dáil by the Minister for State with special responsibility for Forestry, Farm Safety, and Horticulture that hare coursing is worth €70 million to the Irish economy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52197/26]

1762. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views on whether a ban on hare coursing should be introduced; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45853/25]

2222. Deputy Sinéad Gibney asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the plans to ban or limit the practice of blood sports in Ireland such as hare coursing and fox hunting; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43611/25]

1173. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for a breakdown of the costs and work hours over the past five years associated with National Parks and Wildlife Service rangers monitoring hare coursing meetings; and if he will acknowledge that a ban on this bloodsport would allow these resources to be directed towards urgent conservation matters. [18875/25]

84. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he is concerned about the scarcity of hares in the area of Roseberry, County Kildare, as highlighted in the attached December 2024 return (details supplied), which stated that "only two courses run–hare stock low this year". [37301/25]

1176. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will refuse 2025-2026 hare netting licences for coursing, given that this cruel activity causes a serious disturbance to the Irish hare in that it involves removing thousands of hares from the wild and is therefore in breach of Article 15 of the EU Habitats Directive which states that "in respect of the ca…

1175. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if the presence of pregnant hares at the Balbriggan and Borrisoleigh coursing meetings in November and December 2024 constituted a breach of licence condition 11 which states "pregnant hares shall not be taken under the licence"; and if so, the action being taken. [18877/25]

I thank all the Deputies who participated in the debate. I will start on the point about hare coursing being highly regulated, and that we do not give that more credit to that and to the idea that animal welfare is a top priority. Let us consider what hare coursing is in essence. You can regulate it all you like - and we are in favour of more regulation - but the essence of it involves going into …

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." It is an honour to finally be moving this at Second Stage after the Animal Health and Welfare (Ban on Hare Coursing) Bill was first introduced in 2020. It has been a long road getting to this point. This section of the road will finish next Wednesday with a vote. I will start and finish with an appeal to the public to get on to their TDs and dema…

I convey the apologies of the Minister, Deputy Heydon, who is unable to attend. I am taking the debate on behalf of the Government. I wish to clearly state at the outset that the area of animal welfare is of the utmost importance to me, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Government as a whole. Our Department devotes considerable resources to protecting the well-being of an…

Apologies. I know the point has been made about the risk of hare coursing being driven underground. First, it is important to recognise that illegal hare coursing already takes place underground. It is probably the biggest cause of mortality among hares right now. I do not believe the existence, and continued existence, of an illegal practice justifies the continued State support for a practice th…

Enclosed hare coursing, like we have in Ireland, was banned in Britain in 1914. It was deemed unsporting. It is so contrived and unnatural. Those were the words that were used by the coursing clubs that agreed with it being banned. Ireland is becoming a complete and utter outlier on animal rights. I am embarrassed at some of the things that I am about to talk about here. If anybody is listening fr…

I will start by paying tribute to the Creagh Lane abuse survivors who have had to fight tirelessly, although they should not have had to, for justice in the face of a conspiracy by the church and a cover up and absolute obstruction by the State. Tonight, TDs will have an opportunity to ban the barbaric practice of hare coursing; to join the North and the rest of Europe in saying that terrorising …

I thank Deputy Murphy for bringing this Bill forward. It is so important. Hare coursing is called a blood sport. That is where we should start. In what world is that acceptable, a blood sport? Think of what that actually means. What previous contributors have said has really landed with me today. We need to look at anything that is called a blood sport and realise that maybe in 2026, we are a litt…

Thank you. I will keep going. For anyone concerned about biodiversity, the impact of coursing on the Irish hare population should be a major concern. A National Parks and Wildlife Service study indicates an eight times lower survival rate for hares after they are released from coursing. That is a significant additional stressor on wild hare populations, which are already in decline, along with mos…

I absolutely respect everybody's opinion in relation to this or any other issue. People are perfectly entitled to take a position on this or any other issue, to articulate that position and to exercise their mandate to debate in these Houses, as am I doing as both a constituency TD and a Minister of State at the Department of agriculture. It is wrong, however, to try to misrepresent what I have sa…

I thank Deputy Murphy for bringing this Bill forward. It is important that we have a debate on these issues. It is an issue that needs further scrutiny and we need to look into it, but from a Sinn Féin perspective, we will not be supporting the proposal. While we recognise that there are of course always issues when it comes to sports of this nature where there can be abuse and animals can be the …

I am happy and pleased to support Deputy Murphy's Bill today on behalf of the Green Party. This is probably the fourth substantive debate we have had on animal welfare related issues during the term of this Dáil. We are discussing hare coursing today. We discussed fox hunting, puppy farms and greyhound racing. I recognise the work of those Deputies who have brought these issues forward as Private …

Some 77% of Irish people favour a ban on hare coursing. The reason they want to see a ban on hare coursing is, simply put, that it is cruel. It is completely unnatural to pull a wild animal from their environment, to cage it for weeks and put it out in front of a greyhound and essentially let it run for its life. To do that and to call it a sport is probably one of the things that I have most diff…

Will Fianna Fáil Party TDs be given a free vote on Wednesday night when they get a chance to ban hare coursing? Multiple Fianna Fáil TDs have responded to constituents saying that they are utterly opposed to hare coursing. Is Fianna Fáil going to force them to vote to continue this cruel practice, where thousands of hares are captured from the wild every single year, held in little cages initially…

The Taoiseach says you have to bring people with you, but the people are miles ahead of the politicians on this one. In today's poll, when you exclude the undecided, 74% of people support a ban on hare coursing. In the poll a number of years ago, it was 77%, and higher in rural areas than in urban areas. The problem the people often face is that they have to try to drag the politicians with them b…

I move: Tuesday's business shall be: - Supplementary Estimates for Public Services [Votes 30 and 31] (back from Committee) (without debate, to moved together and decided by one question and any division claimed to be taken immediately) - Motion re Thirteenth Report of the Standing Committee of Selection (without debate and any division claimed to be taken immediately) - Motion re Restoration o…

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. In the first instance, each political party has its own rules in respect of a vote of conscience. In the Government parties' situation, it is in respect of human life issues. That is well known. Across the political system, parties vote in accordance with internal debates and under the Whip system. That is the position. Coursing is regulated significantly …

Public funding should be earned through transparency, and given the evidence on welfare, declining attendance and serious questions about the industry's economic case, that transparency is clearly lacking. The figures repeatedly cited by Government that greyhound racing contributes €132 million annually are at best unclear, and at worst, misleading. The figure includes hare coursing, which Governm…

-----and to be frank with the Deputy, the provenance of the report is not something that I have knowledge of. It is not surprising that people would have done studies and analysis on this, but it is more than just economics in any event. When I referred to bringing people along, I meant there are people in rural Ireland who would have diametrically different opinions or approaches from the Deputy…

I must now deal with a deferred division relating to the Second Reading motion on the Animal Health and Welfare (Ban on Hare Coursing) Bill 2020. On Thursday, 2 July 2026, on the question, "That the Bill be now read a Second Time", a division was claimed and that division must be taken now.

What it all comes down to is a level of empathy and what we consider to be acceptable in society and what we do not. I also want to respond to the argument about driving it underground if we do not allow it to continue. It is incredible, but in no other circumstances do we hear the argument that something is wrong but we are going to allow it to continue because if we do not, criminals will conti…

It will come as no surprise to the Minister that I and the Social Democrats will not be supporting this motion. I am speaking specifically about the greyhound industry. This is not a technical matter, it is a question of ethics, accountability and the use of public money. The cruelty in the greyhound industry is well documented and undeniable. While on Irish tracks these dogs are regularly recorde…

I congratulate the Minister, her Department and, indeed, all of the artists and designers involved in the new passport design. It is a beautiful document. It clearly shows the importance of nature to the Irish people. Fifteen thousand people were engaged in the process of designing this document. The reality is we as a state have not been kind to many of the species that were illustrated in that n…

Is as an gcathair dom. Tá sé sin soiléir. Tráth dá raibh, áfach, bhí giorriacha in Dollymount Beach. When we look back at the hare and how it has evolved on our island since the Ice Age, with the retreat of the ice caps, giorria, fia, the small deer, it is intrinsically linked to our culture. The hare featured on our old currency. It is a beautiful animal but, sadly, there has not been any on Doll…

Bhí mé ag éisteacht le gach duine agus aontaím le go leor rud a dúradh. I will start with the area I represent, Dublin Bay North. I have mentioned previously that Bull Island, in my constituency and a part of the Dublin Bay UNESCO Biosphere, is one of the best places to go to clear the head. Sadly, we have lost the native Irish hare on the island. The last time it was seen was in 2016. The golf cl…

It is terribly cynical politics of the worst kind but it is a great old technique to create an issue and send a hare up the field when actually there is no issue in the first place. Of course the GPO will be an iconic building by the time we are finished with it but, as the Deputy knows, there is a huge complex behind it. We are looking at the major iconic cultural aspect. There will be a post off…