Non-Statutory Public Consultation on the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine’s next Animal Welfare Strategy for the period 2026 to 2030

Mr. Martin Heydon T.D., Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, invites submissions, observations and comments regarding where priority should be afforded in the new Animal Welfare Strategy and, by extension, its implementation.

The aim of this public consultation is to gather stakeholder opinion and feedback regarding the Department’s second iteration of its Animal Welfare Strategy, which will run for the period 2026 to 2030.

Published on 19th November 2025

Open for submissions from 19th November 2025

Submissions close 5:00pm, Friday 2nd January 2026

The term of Ireland’s first ever Animal Welfare Strategy 2021-2025 - Working Together for Animal Welfare is approaching a conclusion.

To build on the achievements of our current strategy a new strategy setting out the broad principles to continue to improve animal welfare in Ireland over the coming years needs to be agreed, developed, and published.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has commenced the process of developing its second Animal Welfare Strategy in 2025. The new Strategy will run for the period 2026 to 2030.

The new strategy will act as a framework for engagement and collaboration to direct future activities with the aim of benefiting both animals and Irish society.

The strategy will continue to adopt a ‘One Health, One Welfare’ approach, acknowledging and valuing the interconnections and inter-dependencies between human, animal and environmental health, and taking an evidence-led approach to policy making, target-setting, monitoring and evaluation.

The new Animal Welfare Strategy will need to align appropriately with the Departments high-level long-term objectives in relation to animal welfare as referenced in the Department’s Statement of Strategy as well as Programme for Government priorities in the area of Animal Welfare.

The new Animal Welfare Strategy will also need to provide a mechanism to measure achievements

Process

The 2020-2025 Animal Welfare Strategy focused on the following themes:

1. Working in Partnership
2. Science and Evidence-Led Policy-Making
3. Improving Education and Knowledge:
4. Consistent Evaluation and Assessment:
5. An Effective Regulatory System

You can find more detailed summary of these priorities in the following document, DAFM AWS 2021-2025 - Themes and Actions while below are links to the full Animal Welfare Strategy and the Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine Statement of Strategy 2023-2026 (especially Goal 1 Objective 1.3).

Do you consider these themes to be still relevant, or are there new or additional themes which should be included?

The first DAFM Animal Welfare Strategy, published in 2020, can be viewed at Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine Animal Welfare Strategy

• You may also wish to, but are not limited by, reference to the headings on page 20 of the publication above.
• The document at this link DAFM AWS 2021-2025 - Themes and Actions also provides a Synopsis of the Themes & Selected Sample Actions from that Strategy.

The current overarching DAFM Statement of Strategy & Appendix can be viewed at Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine Statement of Strategy 2023-2026

• You may wish to, but are not limited by, reference to the following elements in the publication above:
• Strategic Objective 1.3 under Goal 1 on page 8 and/or
• All relevant sections of the Appendix, which outlines alignment of the Statement of Strategy with the Programme for Government. Potential contributors may wish to pay particular attention to those sections with respect to Animal Welfare as outlined on pages 8 and 9.

It is in the nature of any Government Department Strategy on specific areas, in this case Animal Welfare, to be overarching in nature, providing a roadmap for best serving the Irish public & key stakeholders in achieving long-term Animal Welfare goals. It is not in the nature of such strategies to be highly prescriptive or overly detailed in this respect.

Prospective contributors may wish to be informed by the 1-page document AWS Strategy Outline which briefly outlines the context of strategy development along with the typical core components of a strategy.

Contributors are asked to note the Strategic Orientation of this exercise, and the Core Components referenced in the attachment as part of their consideration in making a submission.

The closing date for submissions is 5:00pm Friday 2nd January 2026

Submissions should be relayed as follows:

By email to:

animalwelfareconsultation@agriculture.gov.ie

Or by post to:

Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Animal Welfare Division, Agriculture House, Kildare Street, Dublin 2, D02 WK12

by 5pm on Friday 2nd January 2026

We are committed to engaging with stakeholders in a clear, open and transparent manner. Any person or organisation can make a submission in relation to this consultation.

Your response to this consultation is subject to:

• the Freedom of Information Act 2014 (FOI)
• the Access to Information on the Environment Regulations 2007-2018 (AIE)
• the Data Protection Act 2018

Note: The Department will not disclose the identities of individuals who submit responses, nor will it publish the findings arising from the public consultations. All submissions will undergo appropriate assessment by the Department, and the information provided will remain strictly confidential and will not be disclosed outside the Department.

For more information visit: Data Protection Privacy Notices