Commenting on the work carried out by these organisations, the Minister said: "I am pleased to be able to provide support to these largely voluntary organisations by way of a grant to assist in their very important work and care of animals. The work of animal welfare organisations continues to play a very important role in protecting Ireland’s image as an animal caring nation."

As part of the allocation of funds the Minister is recommending a new code of practice for welfare organisations which aims to promote sound welfare and management practices to assist organisations achieve high standards of animal welfare. The code outlines the Five Freedoms which provide an overall concept of animal welfare and aims to underpin animal welfare best practice at all organisations.

The code will be issued to all recipients of ex-gratia funding and will be available on the Department’s website.

As well as announcing details of the new code of practice to be observed by welfare organisations, the Minister said: "My Department is enhancing the procedures currently in place for reporting of suspected cases of animal cruelty/distress. A dedicated e-mail address is now operating and a help-line will be set up in January for members of the public to report incidents of animal cruelty."

The code will be part of the Animal Health and Welfare legislation which will be published early in the New Year. Concluding, the Minister said that he is very committed to strengthening legislation on animal cruelty and animal welfare.

Details of the organisations that have been approved for funding and the amounts for each organisation are detailed in the attached table (List of Animal Grants) [doc 140Kb].