Minister Heydon opens public consultation on development of new Animal Welfare Strategy 2026 – 2030
- Published on: 19 November 2025
- Last updated on: 19 November 2025
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon TD, has today launched a public consultation process inviting views to inform development of a new Animal Welfare Strategy for his Department in the period 2026 to 2030.
Speaking at the launch in the Mount Venus, Rathfarnham facility of the newly formed National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA), the Minister said:
“Animal Welfare is a topic of huge importance, to society as a whole and to all those responsible for animals, including the farming sector and pet owners. As a modern European society, we are bound by evolving norms with respect to how society values and treats all animals. The bar in this respect continues to rise, and as a country we are on a positive upward trajectory, but I want to hear from all interested parties as to how our next Animal Welfare Strategy can put us on a best in class footing with comparator countries whilst maintaining the progress made under the current strategy.”
The launch initiates a six-week process, to 2 January 2026, whereby the public and all interested stakeholders, including farming interests and animal welfare groups, can provide feedback, comment and recommendation to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine with respect to the direction, themes and thrust of the new Animal Health and Welfare Strategy to be launched next year.
Minister Heydon continued:
“Be they farmed animals, companion animals and other pets, animals engaged in sporting or leisure activities, it is of vital importance that we implement and enforce appropriate legislation, resource initiatives that enhance animal welfare, and generally continue to raise that bar, in this important area. The challenge of maintaining and enhancing animal welfare is wide-ranging and multi-dimensional in nature.”
There has been significant progress since the current strategy was initially adopted in 2020 including:
- Funding to animal welfare charities increased from a 2020 Budget allocation of €2.4 million to over €6 million to over 100 organisations in 2023 and again in 2024.
- Introduction of a legislative prohibition on fur farming.
- The Farm Animal Welfare Advisory Council (FAWAC) has been relaunched and will remain a central source of guidance for the Minister and his Department on key animal welfare topics.
- Establishment of the first Chair in Animal Welfare & Veterinary Ethics at UCD School of Veterinary Medicine, with significant support from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine towards the cost of the appointment for a six-year period.
- Ongoing and continued mainstreaming of the “One Health, One Welfare” approach in policy formulation and informing research, acknowledging, and valuing the interconnections and inter-dependencies between human, animal and environmental health.
- Establishment of a new, independently chaired Advisory Council on Companion Animal Welfare (ACAW).
Minister Heydon indicated that funding to qualifying animal welfare charities for 2025 would be confirmed in the near future. It is anticipated that funding will be maintained broadly at its 2025 level of €6 million in 2026.
Minister Heydon was also pleased to confirm that in the area of dog control, local authorities will continue to be resourced into next year with respect to the retention or acquisition of additional dog wardens, with a continued allocation of approximately €2 million overall in 2026.
Minister Heydon concluded:
“I am personally invested in making a difference in this area. I look forward, along with my Department, to engaging proactively both with respect to this Public Consultation campaign as well further campaigns across relevant platforms, including my Department’s website, for the remainder of 2025 and into 2026, on issues ranging from responsible dog ownership, including sheep worrying, to the broader ownership and treatment of all animals."
Those wishing to contribute in response to this public consultation should send feedback or submissions to animalwelfareconsultation@agriculture.gov.ie or in hard copy to Public Consultation Feedback, Animal Welfare Division, Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine, Kildare St, Dublin 2, D02WK12.
