Agriculture committee member Tom Buchanan said that it would pose a fatal risk to sheep and dogs.

The minister told the Assembly this week that he was “keen” to ban e-collars and cited a plan by the Republic’s agriculture minister, Charlie McConalogue, to do the same.

In response, Mr Buchanan, a DUP member from West Tyrone, said: “Andrew Muir should look long and hard at the scientific evidence because he risks making life even tougher for Northern Ireland’s sheep farmers. Across the water in Wales a ban on e-collar training has led to a huge increase in not just savaged sheep but shot dogs. That double tragedy should be avoided at all costs.”

He has been joined in the criticism by Edward Adamson of the National Sheep Association in Northern Ireland, who said “I consider these collars to be an effective training device to stop dogs chasing sheep. If Minister Muir had ever seen the devastation and damage that is often done to sheep in a dog attack, he might better understand the reason for effective training. If they were banned it would cause fury around the countryside.”

Earlier this year, NFU Mutual blamed what they called “complacency among some dog owners” alongside an “inability to control their pets” for a doubling of dog attacks on livestock in Northern Ireland in 2023, compared to 2022 and 2021. The insurers say farm animals worth an estimated £147,000 were severely injured or killed in Northern Ireland in 2023.

A move to ban e-collars in England last year failed after a campaign by dog owners and a letter from 441 sheep farmers to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. They pointed out that in Wales, where e-collars are banned, there has been a massive increase in dog attacks on livestock.

Jamie Penrith of the Association of Responsible Dog Owners said “politicians who want cheap publicity think that they can win votes by banning e-collars. They should read the science before they pontificate.”