A BILL TO outlaw foxhunting is being debated in the Dáil this morning. 

The bill is being debated at the second stage in a move spearheaded by People-Before-Profit TD Ruth Coppinger. 

There has been resistance in the past to bans on the practice, with one move earlier this year seeing Sinn Féin vote against an opposition bill seeking to ban it. 

According to a recent opinion poll, a majority of people believe foxhunting should be banned as a sport in Ireland. The survey did not query respondents on the hunting of foxes on non-sporting grounds, such as for the protection of farm livestock.

The Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2025 would prohibit the use of canines to hunt or flush out foxes and prohibit trapping or snaring of the foxes in order to kill them. 

Fox hunting is banned across the UK, except for Northern Ireland. However, it’s believed laws against the practice are regularly broken throughout Britain.

The Irish Wildlife Trust said that fox hunting happens regularly in Ireland during the hunting season, which runs from November to April, with 42 registered packs often meeting two or three times a week.

The changes to the law are being opposed by many rural TDs, who argue that fox hunting is a means of pest control.

Danny Healy-Rae, TD for Kerry, told The Journal: “I don’t think people in built-up areas know what foxes do.

“My son Dan had 18 lambs taken from him, and I know a man from Killarney who had 13 hens and is left with one after the fox did three or four rounds.

“Any help the fox hunters can give is appreciated.”