14.— (1) The operator of a registered dog breeding establishment shall, upon each anniversary (in this section referred to as the “liability date”) of the registration of that establishment under this Act, be liable to pay a charge (in this Act referred to as the “annual dog breeding establishment charge”) in respect of that dog breeding establishment.

(2) The annual dog breeding establishment charge shall be paid to the local authority in which the dog breeding establishment concerned is situated on the liability date before the expiration of such period from that date as may be prescribed.

(3) The annual dog breeding establishment charge shall—

(a) in the case of a dog breeding establishment at which not more than 18 bitches are kept, be €400,

(b) in the case of an establishment at which not less than 19 and not more than 30 bitches are kept, be €800,

(c) in the case of an establishment at which not less than 31 and not more than 100 bitches are kept, be €1,600,

(d) in the case of an establishment at which not less than 101 and not more than 200 bitches are kept, be €3,000, and

(e) in the case of an establishment at which more than 200 bitches are kept, be—

(i) €3,000, and

(ii) €1,600 in respect of every 100 bitches in excess of that number.

(4) The annual dog breeding establishment charge shall be recoverable by the local authority concerned as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction.

(5) The Minister may by order amend subsection (3) by substituting for an amount standing specified for the time being in that subsection an amount equal to the amount obtained by multiplying the first-mentioned amount by the figure specified in subsection (6) and, if the amount so obtained is not a whole number of euros and the Minister considers it appropriate to do so rounding (up or down as he or she thinks fit) the amount to the nearest whole number of euros.

(6) The figure mentioned in subsection (5) is the quotient rounded up to 3 decimal places obtained by dividing the consumer price index number in respect of the year in which the order concerned is made by the consumer price index number in respect of the year in which this section comes into operation.

(7) Whenever an order is proposed to be made under this section, a draft of the order shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas and the order shall not be made until a resolution approving the draft has been passed by each such House.

(8) This section shall not apply to the operator of a dog breeding establishment if—

(a) the operator of the establishment is a hunt club,

(b) the operator of the establishment is a charitable organisation within the meaning of the Charities Act 2009,

(c) the operator of the establishment is entitled to an exemption under section 207 or 208 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 and in respect of whom the Revenue Commissioners have issued a number (commonly referred to as a CHY number) for the purposes of such exemption,

(d) the dog breeding establishment is used for commercial boarding kennel purposes only, or

(e) the dog breeding establishment is used solely for the purposes of the management and training of greyhounds for reward pursuant to a public trainer’s licence.

(9) In this section “bitch” means a bitch of more than 6 months old that is capable of being used for breeding purposes.