There is no legal basis to collate and publish details of licensed breeders on a Northern Ireland-wide basis, according to the DAERA minister.

Andrew Muir, Minister for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, has again directed responsibilities for dog licensing and the licensing of registered breeders and sellers to councils in Northern Ireland.

Minister Muir was responding to a question asked by Democratic Unionist Party MLA Deborah Erskine, who raised a written question to him in the Northern Ireland Assembly.

She asked whether his Department would consider working in conjunction with local councils to develop a centralised, publicly accessible list of all registered and licensed breeders and sellers in Northern Ireland.

In a response, Minister Muir said: “At present, there is no legal basis to collate and publish this information on a Northern Ireland-wide basis.

"However, there may be scope, under the current legislation, for councils to modify the way they record and process licence applications from dog breeders and publish this information on a council-by-council basis.

“It is for councils to determine if this was feasible in the first instance.”