The need to create laws to ensure the provision of assistance dogs to people with disabilities was agreed during a discussion at the House human rights committee on Monday.

“At the parliamentary level, it is extremely important to set the framework and enshrine the right of every person with a disability to have their own service dog,” committee chairwoman and Akel MP Irene Charalambidou said.

She emphasised that the matter was particularly complex, given that specific training was required for the dog, its owner and certified trainers, stressing the need for government assistance in view of the associated high costs.

“The [matter] requires cooperation between the legislative and executive branches,” she said, stressing the need for institutional cooperation for the creation of an effective legislative framework.

Effective executive and legislative branches could provide for a relevant support system, she said.

“A modern society cannot fail to operate with assistance in mind, which must be provided to the greatest extent possible to these individuals. Dogs, after all, are family members for many people,” she added.

Diko’s Christos Senekkis added that despite Cyprus having ratified the UN convention on the rights of people with disabilities since 2011, little had been done to legalise assistance dogs.

He said an existing legislative gap means for the unhindered access of people with service dogs to public spaces including transport and restaurants pointed to the lack of a relevant certification system for assistance dogs in Cyprus.

Greens MP Charalambos Theopemptou said the matter only came to light when the House environment committee, headed by him, agreed to exempt assistance dogs from the licence fee during recent discussions.

“Every country has its own regulatory system. We have nothing. In Cyprus today there are no assistance dogs – no training, no help from the government. The few cases are private initiatives,” he said.

He added that costs for assistance dogs currently range from €10,000 to as much as €20,000.