LAST UPDATE | 19 hrs ago

THE DÁIL HAS voted against a highly-controversial bill that would outlaw hare coursing, with 125 members voting against the bill and 24 voting for it.

The People Before Profit bill was supported by the Social Democrats, the Greens and Labour, while Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael and Sinn Féin said they would vote against progressing the bill.

Hare coursing is a controversial sport that involves a hare being released in an enclosure and chased down by greyhounds, before being let go into the wild.

Although the dogs are muzzled, the hares can still be injured and even killed. Under Ireland’s Wildlife Act, hares are a protected species, but despite this, Ireland is one of only three EU countries where hare coursing is still legal.

125 members of the Dáil voted against the bill, while 24 voted for it. Oireachtas TV Oireachtas TV

Earlier today the Taoiseach said he hasn’t seen a report that claimed hare coursing contributes €70 million to the Irish economy annually, as TDs gear up to vote on whether to ban the practice.

The Irish Coursing Club and Niall Collins, a junior minister in the Department of Agriculture and Fianna Fáil TD, had quoted the €70 million figure, and said it came from a report carried out by economist Jim Power in 2022. 

When The Journal contacted the club to request a copy of the report, its chief executive DJ Histon refused, saying it first had to be presented to members.

Speaking in the Dáil today, People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy said it was “troubling” that a Fianna Fáil junior minister “relied on a figure from a report that hasn’t been produced, that cannot be analysed, that cannot be scrutinised”.

“[The report] was supposed to be done in 2022 but literally was not mentioned anywhere until last week. There were parliamentary questions asked in 2025 and this report was never mentioned,” Murphy said.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said he hasn’t seen the report himself.

“The provenance of the report is not something that I have knowledge of,” he added.

Speaking to The Journal, Niall Collins said he has seen and read the report himself but that it is not his to release.

“It’s authored by Jim Power, who is a reputable economic commentator. If Paul Murphy and others want to discredit the report without seeing it, well then that is another story.”

The Journal has contacted Jim Power to ask for evidence to support the €70m figure.

A poll found nearly two-thirds of adults (65%) are in favour of an outright ban, while 23% were opposed. Some 12% were undecided.

Martin said “you have to bring people with you” when making legislative change, but Murphy said the poll shows that the public is ahead of politicians on this issue.

Martin argued that some people from rural Ireland have come to feel their way of life is “under sustained attack”.

Murphy said, however, that there is no urban-rural divide on the issue of hare coursing. He called the practice “barbaric”.

Martin said there are regulations for hare coursing and penalties for those who deviate from them. A ban may lead people to do it illegally, without such regulation, he said.

With reporting from Sophie Finn.