Written answers
Tuesday, 10 December 2013
Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Livestock Thefts
Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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417. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of cases where livestock cattle have been reported as stolen since January 2012; and if he will provide a breakdown per county on reported instances of this nature. [52693/13]
Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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418. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the actions his Department has implemented to reduce the number of instances of livestock cattle thefts across the State. [52695/13]
Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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419. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will consider introducing a compensation scheme for farmers who have had livestock stolen from their lands; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52696/13]
Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 417 to 419, inclusive, together.
A breakdown of the number of bovines reported as stolen since January 2012 on a county basis is set out in the following table.
| County | 2012 | 1 January-5 Dec 2013 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carlow | 1 | -- | 1 |
| Cavan | 17 | 3 | 20 |
| Clare | -- | 20 | 20 |
| Cork | -- | 5 | 5 |
| Donegal | 19 | 10 | 29 |
| Dublin | 1 | -- | 1 |
| Galway | 6 | 12 | 18 |
| Kerry | 7 | 10 | 17 |
| Kildare | -- | 1 | 1 |
| Kilkenny | 2 | -- | 2 |
| Laois | 6 | 31 | 37 |
| Leitrim | -- | 10 | 10 |
| Limerick | 13 | 38 | 51 |
| Longford | 1 | -- | 1 |
| Louth | 2 | 13 | 15 |
| Mayo | 9 | 34 | 43 |
| Meath | 5 | 33 | 38 |
| Monaghan | 13 | 48 | 61 |
| Offaly | 8 | -- | 8 |
| Roscommon | 17 | 4 | 21 |
| Sligo | -- | -4 | 4 |
| Tipperary | 6 | 4 | 10 |
| Waterford | -- | 1 | 1 |
| Westmeath | -- | 17 | 17 |
| Wexford | -- | -- | -- |
| Wicklow | -- | -- | -- |
| Overall Total | 133 | 298 | 431 |
Any incident involving stolen cattle should be reported to the Garda Siochana in the first instance as the Gardai have primary responsibility for investigating such matters. Where necessary, this Department through the Special Investigation Unit (SIU), will assist the Gardai with their investigations into cases of stolen animals and this could involve liaison with cross border colleagues. In this regard, a cross border liaison Group comprising the SIU, Gardai and PSNI liaise and investigate the theft of livestock on an all Ireland basis.
Stolen cattle cannot be traded legally in the State as all bovines must bear official ear tags, be properly registered and be located on this Department’s Animal Identification and Movement (AIM) database in the herd of the individual moving or selling the bovine. When cattle are reported as stolen to my Department, they are marked on the AIM database as being stolen on foot of a Garda report. If these animals are presented anywhere in the State for sale, slaughter or export they are checked against the database and will be rejected at these outlets and an investigation initiated.
My Department has no plans to introduce a compensation scheme for farmers that have had livestock stolen from their holdings.
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