People Before Profit-Solidarity TD Ruth Coppinger is set to ramp her efforts to ban fox hunting in Ireland.

The Dublin West TD will introduce her Animal Health and Welfare (Ban On Fox Hunting) Bill in the Dáil on Tuesday (May 27).

A “Ban Fox Hunting” protest will take place outside the Dáil on Kildare Street at 1:00p.m on the same day.

Deputy Coppinger's bill aims to amend the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013, which she said contains an exemption for hunting.

If enacted, the bill would add a paragraph to Section 12 of the act to specify that "fox hunting and related practices are banned and therefore cannot be considered as lawful hunting".

The bill focuses on banning not only fox hunting, but also trail hunting and the snaring and trapping of foxes.

The proposed legislation would ban the hunting of foxes, including with dogs, and the use of dogs to flush or dig out a fox from below ground.

The bill states that “fox hunting is a cruel and inhumane blood sport".

"Fox hunting causes unnecessary suffering and stress to the fox. The practice entails setting a pack of dogs on a fox who then chase and kill the fox.

"The pack of dogs are generally pursued by hunters on horseback. It is a common practice for any fox that escapes underground to have hunt followers set terrier dogs on them to kill them underground or to flush them out. It is an archaic practice with a deeply elitist culture.

"Public opinion is opposed to the practice, with opinion polls overwhelmingly supportive of a ban on fox hunting," the bill adds.

The bill cites that fox hunting has been banned in Britain for over 20 years (Scotland introduced a ban in 2002, and England and Wales in 2005).

"Experience in Britain has shown that a loophole that permits trail hunting - where the scent of a fox is followed - often leads to the pursuit and killing of a fox," the bill claims.

“The fox is a mammal native to Ireland and is part of Ireland's biodiversity. The killing of foxes through fox hunting is not needed to protect livestock or to protect biodiversity," it adds.

Deputy Coppinger revealed in February that she was working on this bill.

In a video posted on social media at that time, she stated: “Fox hunting has no benefit to anybody, except to entertain a tiny minority of usually quite privileged people. It is not a traditional pastime. It needs to be outlawed".

Deputy Coppinger was previously involved in securing a ban on fur farming in Ireland. She is also in favour of a ban on greyhound racing and hare coursing.