2285. Deputy Michael Murphy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of on-the-spot fines, fixed payment notices, or prosecutions initiated under the Control of Horses Act 1996 in 2025 and to-date in 2026, by county; and the number of successful prosecutions. [26265/26]
Topics / Animal Welfare
A subject heading for parliamentary questionsAnimal Welfare
386 questions from 67 TDs, between 22 January 2025 and 22 October 2026.
386
questions
382 written, 4 oral
67
TDs have asked
10
parties and groups
Independents counted together
8
departments asked
Questions per month
The record holds no questions for August, when the Dáil does not sit.
Jan 2025Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions |
|---|---|
| January 2025 | 1 |
| February 2025 | 8 |
| March 2025 | 15 |
| April 2025 | 34 |
| May 2025 | 4 |
| June 2025 | 8 |
| July 2025 | 12 |
| August 2025 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 18 |
| October 2025 | 22 |
| November 2025 | 35 |
| December 2025 | 4 |
| January 2026 | 12 |
| February 2026 | 42 |
| March 2026 | 17 |
| April 2026 | 47 |
| May 2026 | 41 |
| June 2026 | 19 |
| July 2026 | 7 |
| August 2026 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 13 |
| October 2026 | 27 |
Who asks, by party
The party each TD belonged to on the day, in alphabetical order. Parties differ a lot in size, and members of the Government answer questions rather than ask them, so this shows who raised it, not how much a party cares about it.
The TDs who asked most
Members of the Government answer questions rather than ask them. Each question counts once.
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49
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37
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34
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24
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22
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17
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15
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14
Asked of
Debated under the same heading
Debates whose official heading is exactly these words.
The questions
2286. Deputy Michael Murphy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the extent to which horses seized under the Control of Horses Act 1996 in 2025 were found to be in poor or compromised welfare condition; and whether standardised welfare assessments are carried out in such cases. [26266/26]
2288. Deputy Michael Murphy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the powers available to his officials and authorised officers under the Control of Horses Act 1996 to enter lands, inspect animals, and seize horses; and whether he is satisfied that these powers are being fully utilised. [26268/26]
2326. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will consider increasing the funding to animal welfare charities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27303/26]
390. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine for an update on measures to protect the welfare of urban horses, horses used in sulky racing or for drawing carriages; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23329/26]
391. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the maximum number of non-coursing greyhounds contracted per day in the two care homes and seven foster centres funded by an organisation (details supplied) for each of the years 2023, 2024, 2025 and the first three months of 2026, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23405/26]
392. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of non-coursing greyhounds passed through a care centre funded by an organisation (details supplied) for each of the years 2023, 2024 and 2025; the number of those dogs who were homed directly from this care centre; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23406/26]
393. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of non-coursing greyhounds who passed through a care centre funded by an organisation (details supplied) for each of the years 2023, 2024 and 2025, and the number of those dogs who were homed directly from this care centre; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23407/26]
394. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of non-coursing greyhounds who passed through the seven foster centres funded by an organisation (details supplied) for each of the years 2023, 2024 and 2025; the number of those dogs were homed directly from these foster centres; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23408/26]
753. Deputy Ryan O'Meara asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the efforts being made to deal with the rising cases of animal cruelty; the number of cases that have been prosecuted on indictment of animal cruelty in the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21526/26]
80. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine for an update on the drafting of a new animal welfare strategy for 2026 to 2030; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21353/26]
93. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the position regarding any engagement he has had with an animal welfare charity (details supplied) in relation to preventing illegal sulky racing and the associated animal welfare concerns; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19941/26]
98. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine whether he is satisfied that current enforcement of the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013 is adequate in light of repeated reports of severe equine mistreatment, abandonment, and euthanasia following welfare failures; and the immediate steps his Department is taking to strengthen inspections, seizures, and prosecutions in respect of horse…
141. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the measures he is planning to take to improve animal welfare in the country; to provide an update on the development of the Animal Welfare Strategy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20543/26]
145. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the actions he is taking to address animal welfare concerns with regards to illegal sulky racing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19940/26]
373. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide an update on the work of the stakeholder group on dog control; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8240/26]
1425. Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of reports received of horse neglect, or cruelty due to the misuse of horses on public roads, by his Department from 2020 to 2025 and to date in 2026, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18830/26]
469. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of equine premises numbers currently registered to premises located within urban or built-up areas, by local authority; the number of equines registered to such premises, by local authority; the number of equines recorded on his Department’s equine identification and registration systems as being located in urban or built-up ar…
686. Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his Department collaborates with the Department of Transport to identify horse welfare breaches occurring on public roads; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16289/26]
687. Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if any of the €4 million in equine funding awarded to charities involved in the care and welfare of horses is specifically earmarked for the seizure or rehabilitation of horses involved in illegal road racing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16290/26]
702. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will address gaps in enforcement relating to urban horse control and animal welfare, following a recent incident in which a pregnant horse collapsed and died on a public road; the agency which has responsibility for out of hours intervention where there are risks to public safety, criminality or animal welfare; whether he will co…
449. Deputy Brian Brennan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will consider legislation to make it illegal to give away live animals for prizes to stop animal suffering, like was introduced in Scotland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15736/26]
811. Deputy Paul Donnelly asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if there plans to increase horse seizure operations under the Control of Horses Act 1996; and the number of prosecutions have resulted from these activities. [14003/26]
812. Deputy Paul Donnelly asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the measures that are in place to ensure seized horses are protected and re-homed. [14004/26]
813. Deputy Paul Donnelly asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if there is coordination between Gardaí, local councils and animal welfare organisations to address repeat offenders of (sulky) road racing. [14005/26]