I propose that the petitions considered by the committee at this meeting and previous meetings be published and that replies from Departments and any other bodies also be published. Is that agreed? Agreed.

We have four petitions in front of us this morning. The first, No. P00009/25, has been the subject of a considerable exchange of correspondence. It has been ongoing for a long time. The latest correspondence is from the Minister for Health, who advises that powers have been transferred to the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality. As a result of this correspondence, I propose that we send the correspondence from the petitioner to the Department of Children, Disability and Equality and request a response. If the committee agrees, when we get that response, we will consider what we can proactively do to assist this individual. However, I propose that we wait until we see the response from the Department of Children, Disability and Equality. Is that agreed? Agreed.

The second petition, No. P00064/25, is entitled "Housing Review". It is proposed that we forward correspondence from the petitioner to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage for comment within 14 days. Is that agreed? Agreed.

The third petition, No. P00087/25, is entitled "Dragged, Beaten, Dumped: Ireland’s Animals Deserve Better". This was submitted by My Lovely Horse Animal Rescue. The secretariat has written to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. It is proposed that we publish the response from the Department and that this correspondence be forwarded to the petitioner for comment within 14 days.

Are going to write to the Department of agriculture?

The Department has responded. We sent the petition to the Department and it issued a response. The proposal is that we publish that and send the correspondence from the Department to the petitioner for their consideration and response.

We should also write to the Department of justice in light of what is happening on the roads with regard to horses. Animal welfare in Ireland is unbelievably bad. I do not have the words to describe how bad it is. There are large-scale puppy farms and sulky racing, which is a disgusting practice. Only last week, a horse was dumped and left for dead in north Dublin. There was an incident in Clonmel where a 13-year-old was in charge of a sulky trap, which went out of control, leading to the poor horse bleeding to death on the road. That is combined with the ongoing abuse of dogs, cats and animals in general, particularly pets. We claim to be an animal-loving nation but the evidence does not suggest that, particularly when considering the actions taken by consecutive Ministers. My Lovely Horse Animal Rescue put in a request for an animal welfare crime unit, for loopholes on unregulated large-scale dog breeding to be closed, and for a director of animal welfare with statutory authority to be appointed. These things should be in place already. These measures should be there. We should not need to do this. We see this constantly. Let us consider the way greyhounds are treated by an agency that gets €19 million a year from the State and at the conditions of those dogs. The chief executive of Greyhound Racing Ireland has admitted that 3,000 greyhounds are killed every year.

We have to act on this. We have written to the Minister for agriculture. We need to write to the Minister for justice. We should also ask the Garda Commissioner for his view on a Garda-led animal welfare crime unit. We need to bring all of those stakeholders in here, hold them to account and highlight the complete failure of statutory bodies in relation to animal welfare.

The petition title uses the word "dragged". We regularly see dogs and horses dragged around the place. We see dogs, animals and pets beaten. Louise O'Tuama is a friend of mine. Cats are not considered as often but cats are pets. They are beautiful little animals. People like Louise O'Tuama do unbelievable work. They are kind. They get virtually no assistance from the State. People say, "They are only cats; let it go." We need to do more. We should write to the Department of justice and to the Garda Commissioner. The fact that My Lovely Horse Animal Rescue exists is a failure of Government policy. All of the rescues around the country are examples of Government failure. The rescues have done incredible work and are under huge stress. They are manned, almost to the person, by volunteers. They are picking up the tab for the Government's failure to address the animal welfare crisis. I was out at Dogs Trust's centre a couple of weeks ago. The work it does and the facilities it has are incredible. I saw the poor animals that are there, dogs and young pups that were born into that environment. It is sick that Government could allow a situation like this to develop. There are hundreds of rescues. I am not sure if anyone has ever done an audit of the number of rescues. They do incredible work.

We really have to push this. I would like us to write to the Department of justice and to the Garda Commissioner to ask him for his view on the matter. We should then ask My Lovely Horse Animal Rescue to come in. I would like to see the Minister for agriculture here as well but he has shown no kind of empathy whatsoever for animals.

I think that, if the Minister were here, he would dispute that.

If we bring him in, he can dispute it.

That is the value of a conversation. I hear that very clearly. In my house, cats are always at the top of the tree. They rule my house but I understand what the Senator means; not everybody loves cats as much as some of us do. His proposal is that we would forward the correspondence from My Lovely Horse Animal Rescue directly to the Department of justice. We have already forwarded it to the Department of agriculture. We will seek the Department of justice's view. The Senator made a good point. What the petition is seeking involves significant crossover between the Departments of justice and agriculture. While it is not the fault of any one individual, sometimes when more than one Department is responsible, no Department is responsible because each Department passes the issue on to another. There are issues here that are agriculture-related but there are also issues that are justice-related. I propose that we forward the correspondence directly to the Minister to get his views and that we also look to schedule a meeting to hear directly from My Lovely Horse Animal Rescue. That is not the only rescue. There is a hedgehog rescue in my own area and there is Kildare Wildlife Rescue. There is a range of groups. The Senator made a good point that they operate on a voluntary basis for the most part. However, that does not stop us ringing them when we need them. We want them to behave like professional bodies when we need them, but they are not funded in that way. If the committee is agreeable, I am content to take that course of action and to try to schedule that meeting.

I suggest that we also write to the Garda Commissioner. It is important that, when we are writing to the Department of justice, we highlight the fact that this failure in animal welfare is leading to a breakdown. It is making things unsafe for road users. Perhaps we should write to the Department of Transport because sulky racing takes place on public roads. A horse in Ballyfermot that was carrying a foal died. It was on the ground and the owner was beating it to get it up but it just died. It could not take any more. It could not get up again.

That was a very distressing case.

There are lots of cases like that.

In the interests of being able to move this forward, broadening it out to take in three Departments might mean we lessen the likelihood that we will come to some class of a resolution. I propose in the first instance that we engage with the justice element and then, when we get that response, consider that, and on the basis of that then make a decision on who it is that we invite in. I am not hostile in any way to bringing in other Departments-----

I know.

-----but I am also conscious that we do not spread the------

You want to be effective.

Yes. We will try and focus and be at our most effective. Are agreed on that course of action?

What about the Garda Commissioner?

We will forward the correspondence. In fairness to the members of the My Lovely Horse Animal Rescue, they have made a very good submission to us. The more people who have eyes on that, the better. We will hear the views. Some of them, by the way, might be contrary views to those which are held by members of the committee. That is fine. We have to hear them and we will have to consider them. If the committee is agreed, does anyone else want to make any contribution?

Just to agree with that, Chair.

I thank Deputy Buckley. So we are agreed. I call Senator McCarthy.

One of the Senators upstairs, who was vocal on it and shared media about it, was Senator Fiona O'Loughlin. It was about a sulky race and they cut off the road. The cruelty is unforgivable. Definitely, I would be behind Senator Andrews's suggestion.

I thank Senator McCarthy. If we are agreed, that is how we will proceed.

The final petition, No. P00088/2025, is entitled "Oversight and Accountability in Child Safety and Public Body Responses". It is proposed that given the response we have received from the Department of Children, Disability and Equality, this petition be closed and the petitioner be advised to contact the Ombudsman for Children directly. That is fair because we have always tried to be helpful to people in terms of sending them to a place where they might get more satisfaction. Is that approach agreed? Agreed.

That concludes the consideration of public petitions this morning. I invite members of the public to submit petitions via our online portal, which is available at petitions.oireachtas.ie. A petition may be addressed to the Houses of the Oireachtas on a matter of general public concern or interest or an issue of public policy. Do members have any other issues they wish to raise?

No, Chair.

That is grand. The committee is adjourned until Tuesday, 21 April 2026, when we will meet in both private and public session. Go raibh míle maith agaibh.