AQW 55137/11-16

Mr Steven Agnew
Green Party
North Down

Tabled Date: 03/03/2016
Answered On Date: 10/03/2016
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, pursuant to AQW 49629/11-16 and AQW 49628/11-16, and given her reliance on Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) guidance, whether her Department will seek consent for Northern Ireland to be included in proposed legislation to ban circuses with animals, as outlined in DEFRA's 2015-2020 departmental plan, or alternatively, seek to introduce Northern Ireland specific legislation.

Answer:

In my answers to your previous questions, AQW 49629/11-16 and AQW 49628/11-16, the reference to the Defra guidance on their Welfare of Wild Animals in Travelling Circuses (England) Regulations 2012 was provided for your own information in relation to how the welfare needs of particular animals can be met in a travelling circus. No inference was made regarding reliance upon the guidance by my Department.

My officials are engaging with officials from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) in the south under the auspices of the North South Animal Welfare and Transport Working Group to continue to investigate the possibility of an all-island approach to the issue of wild animals in travelling circuses through adoption of a Code of Practice on an all-island basis. The purpose of a Code of Practice would be to ensure that operators are clear about their responsibilities to ensure that the welfare of animals is protected.

My Department continues to monitor the position in other jurisdictions and I am aware that a Wild Animals in Circuses (Prohibition) Bill is expected to have its second reading debate on 11 March 2016, having been introduced to Parliament on 10 February 2016 as a Private Member’s Bill under the Ten Minute Rule.