MICROCHIPPING OF hunting dogs is to be delayed for a year as a concession to hunt clubs, Minister for the Environment John Gormley told the Dáil.

He said he understood the sector’s difficulties moving to a different form of traceability, “but I must point out that the international evidence shows that microchipping is superior”.

Mr Gormley said the adequacy of tattooing as a form of traceability would be assessed as part of a review of the legislation, to take place a year after it came into force.

“If this review shows that tattooing is not proving adequate, we will have to move towards microchipping of all dogs,” he added.

Mr Gormley stressed that no one with a premises, house or farm, with fewer than six breeding bitches, need worry about the Bill as they would not come within the definition of a dog-breeding establishment.

The Minister was introducing the Dog Breeding Establishments Bill 2009, aimed at preventing animal abuse in so-called puppy farms. The House will vote on the Bill next week.

He said he had indicated to all concerned that there could be no exemptions for any breed of dog from the legislation’s animal welfare provisions.

He had also stated he understood the legitimate concerns of certain industry sectors, such as the Irish Greyhound Board, and he was prepared to accommodate them as best he could.

For that reason, the Department of Agriculture would amend the 1958 Greyhound Industry Act to legislate for welfare provisions, he said.

The welfare of board-registered greyhounds would then be addressed through the amended 1958 Act which would replace, for board-registered greyhound breeders and trainers only, the provisions of the Bill he was introducing.

Mr Gormley said that before those provisions could be introduced, Minister for Agriculture Brendan Smith and himself had to be satisfied that the animal welfare standards in the amended 1958 Act were of the same high standards as those in his Bill.

“In particular, the amended legislation must provide for adequate traceability, the same level of enforceability and the involvement of the local authority inspectors in the inspection of facilities,” said Mr Gormley.

He added that the regulation of dog breeding establishments containing greyhounds would continue under his department until the necessary provisions were incorporated into the 1958 Act.

He would delay, he said, the signing of the commencement order of the welfare sections of his Bill until next January to allow for the amendments to be incorporated into the 1958 Act.

Mr Gormley said he had agreed a registration fee exemption for Hunting Association of Ireland registered members and greyhound trainers.

He had also agreed, he added, to widen the fee bands, so that a dog breeding establishment, with six to 18 bitches capable of breeding and over six months old, would pay a fee of €400.