A vet has urged the Government to introduce harsher sentences for pet theft, in order to better reflect the “emotional damage” of having a pet stolen. 

Pet theft is considered a serious crime by Gardaí and conviction can lead to a prison sentence of up to 10 years in prison. 

However, the law typically considers a pet as similar to any other object stolen from its owner. 

Pete Wedderburn argues that pets need to be recognised by the law as “living beings or members of the family”.

Pete joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this.  

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Social housing tenants will be offered up to €1000 to move house in a new “rightsizing” policy set to be implemented by Louth County Council.

The details of a new Draft Housing Allocation Scheme were presented to councillors at their recent monthly meeting.

Director of Service, Ger Murphy said the council had devised a new allocation scheme in a bid to balance the needs of applicants, while also remaining fair to existing tenants and the wider community.

He explained that while a national policy on rightsizing was expected at some point, Louth County Council had opted to include it in the new allocation scheme.

Councillor Kevin Meenan endorsed the draft scheme, saying it had been discussed at length by the Strategic Policy Committee.

Councillor Meenan joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this.

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Labour’s Health Spokesperson Marie Sherlock TD has announced that the Labour Party will use its Private Members’ Time in the Dáil this week to call for the decriminalisation of drug users and for the creation of a compassionate, health-led drugs policy in Ireland.

Deputy Sherlock said the Government has failed to deliver on its promise of a health-led approach, and that criminalising, shaming and stigmatising people in addiction has created a broken system that punishes rather than supports.

Deputy Sherlock joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us about this.

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Erroneous reports about the cause of a fire at a property in Drogheda housing international protection applicants had the effect of downplaying the severity of the incident, according to a group representing asylum seekers.

The Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland (Masi) said the idea that the fire was sparked by fireworks made it seem it was the result of a Hallowe’en prank gone wrong, rather than a deliberately dangerous act.

It led to genuine confusion among people, with some believing it may have been the result of children putting fireworks in letterboxes given last Friday was 31 October.

MASI co-ordinator &  co-founder and South African former asylum seeker Lucky Khambule (Cam-bool-ah) joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us about this.

Lucky also met with and spoke to some of the residents of the IPAS centre which was attacked on Friday night, and he told us about this too.

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Four former industrial home survivors who have been on hunger strike outside the Dáil for 43 days have met with the Taoiseach but are continuing to refuse food as fears grow for their health.

Describing the two-hour meeting as "constructive", the group refused Micheál Martin's call to end their hunger strike in advance of talks with a negotiator — saying they fear "broken promises".

Maurice Patton O’Connell, aged 57, from Caherciveen, Co Kerry; Mary Donovan, originally from Kerry but living in Tipperary; Miriam Moriarty Owens, also from Kerry, and Mary Dunleavy Greene all spent time in industrial schools and say they have been failed by the State for the past 26 years.

Maurice Patton O’Connell joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this.

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It has been revealed that an accelerant was used to deliberately start a fire at asylum seeker accommodation in Drogheda, Co Louth, on Halloween night.

Four children and an adult had to be rescued from the top floor of the building on George’s Street on Friday night, while 23 others were relocated to alternative accommodation.

Some of the rescued children, including a 20-day-old and a 17-month-old, were taken to hospital for assessment. The incident has been widely condemned in the community and by leading political figures.

This morning on The Agenda we got some reaction to the shocking attack by various people and organisations.

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Labour’s Finance spokesperson Ged Nash TD has said plans by PTSB to sell the bank should proceed with “absolute caution”.

Deputy Nash said:

“The only guiding principle FF and FG appears to have on the banks in which the State has held shares, is to put them back into full private ownership at the earliest opportunity.

“The announcement by PTSB today is the logical conclusion of that policy. Labour has long been of the view that the State should continue to hold a strategic shareholding not below 33% in PTSB, in order to retain some influence in an environment where competition is a significant problem for customers and for the indigenous economy.

Deputy Nash joined us in-studio this morning to talk to us some more about this.

We also spoke about the arson attack on the IPAS centre in Drogheda on Friday.

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Questions have been raised about whether a €9m residential drug rehabilitation centre linked to the Church of Scientology will ever open its doors, following major opposition from the local community.

The controversial drug facility at Ballivor, Co Meath, remains unopened, almost four years after winning a legal battle with residents.

The Ballivor rehabilitation centre is intended to be the first Narconon facility in Ireland, though the Church of Scientology already has a community centre in the Dublin suburb of Firhouse as well as its headquarters on Merrion Square.

Its drug detoxification programme uses high doses of vitamins, coupled with long periods in dry saunas, which it says flushes toxins out of drug users’ bodies.

We were joined on The Agenda this morning by Ashbourne resident and ex-scientologist, John McGee, who is part of the campaign opposing this centre, and he spoke to us about all of this…

John also gave us an insight into the world of scientology and what really goes on when you join The Church of Scientology.

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Councillor Shane McGuinness is calling for a masterplan for community and sporting sites around south Dundalk, and believes Louth County Council should extend the boundary of the town from its current location at Greengates.

Councillor McGuinness was speaking to the Dundalk Democrat following the Dundalk Municipal District October meeting and said that while he thinks the “sports centre in Muirhevnamor and that whole area is a magnificent project”, he feels that there is “too much emphasis being put on a specific area, purely because it's an easy project for Louth County Council because they own that land.”

The Fianna Fáil councillor said that “my worry is that I don't think that we're thinking outside the box and we're [not] forward thinking.

Councillor McGuinness joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this.

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Longford is the only county to avoid a traffic fatality so far this year as road deaths have risen above last year’s levels.

Road-safety campaign group Parc has revealed that fatalities involving motorcyclists and pedal cyclists have spiralled to the highest level in almost two decades.

By Sunday, October 26, a total of 139 people had died on the roads so far this year; two more than for the same period last year.

The 139 deaths involved 56 drivers, 29 pedestrians, 10 passengers, 28 motorcyclists, 13 pedal cyclists, two e-scooter users and one pillion passenger.

Dublin West Fine Gael TD and road safety campaigner Emer Currie said the rate of fatalities was now very worrying.

Deputy Currie is joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this.

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