Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

Many farmers are seriously concerned that meat, which is being exported from Ireland and stamped with the Irish logo and brand, is not actually Irish meat at all. I will give some of the statistics on it. Each year, approximately 56,000 tonnes of sheepmeat is exported from this country. Since 2018, €1.8 billion worth of sheepmeat has been exported. All of that is categorised as being of Irish origin. Since 2018, nearly 9,000 head of live sheep have been exported to countries such as France, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Portugal, the Netherlands, Spain, Romania, Switzerland, Bulgaria and Austria. Ireland also imports an average of 450,000 live sheep each year. If the average weight of a sheep is 21 kg, an average of 9,300 tonnes is being imported. There is serious concern in the sheep sector over these imports. These imports are generally coming from the same countries that we are exporting to. Therefore, we are exporting sheep to these countries and we are importing sheep from these countries. The argument has been made that it would be impossible for Ireland to consume 9,300 tonnes of sheepmeat at the moment. It is obvious to everyone that they are not being imported for breeding purposes and that these 450,000 sheep are actually being imported potentially to be slaughtered and to be sold as Irish sheepmeat.

Is the meat being binned, is it being exported or is it being consumed here in its entirety? It is important for the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Marine to show up for agricultural questions. The response to the parliamentary question that I received from him stated that the 56 tonnes of sheepmeat being exported is of all Irish origin. Can the Minister of State confirm with hand on heart and say with absolute confidence that we have an airtight situation in this country and, in terms of the export of meat and its origin, that we have a system where farmers are not actually competing with other countries selling their meat as Irish meat? Can he also confirm that people internationally and even here in Ireland are not being sold a pup and that there is not false advertisement and false marketing in this regard? If there is, that is a very serious issue. If there is, that means the livelihoods of farmers are being significantly affected and the prices are potentially being pushed down by this.

Can the Minister of State honestly say that all sheepmeat displayed currently with a 100% Irish sticker in supermarkets in this country represents sheep that have been born, grazed, reared and slaughtered here?

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