Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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234. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the volume and value of beef exports to Northern Ireland in 2015 and 2016 and to date in 2017. [25167/17]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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235. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the total volume and value of beef imports from Northern Ireland in 2015 and 2016 and to date in 2017. [25168/17]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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236. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the volume and value of beef exports to the UK excluding Northern Ireland in 2015 and 2016 and to date in 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25169/17]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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237. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the volume and value of beef imports from the UK excluding Northern Ireland in 2015 and 2016 and to date in 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25170/17]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 234 to 237, inclusive, together.

The following tables have been provided to my Department by the Central Statistics Office;

Volume and value of beef exports to NI

Volume and value of beef imports from NI

Volume and value of beef exports to Britain

Volume and value of beef imports from Britain

While these figures reflect the strong position Ireland occupies as a major net exporter of beef and also the existing relationship between Ireland and the United Kingdom in the export and import of beef, it is clear that Brexit will pose a challenge to the continued strong performance of Irish beef exports.

One of the key elements in coping with this challenge is ensuring there is a market for the export of Irish beef. There is a strong global demand for meat, including beef, and figures from the European Commission's most recent Short Term Outlook for meat markets show a projected growth of per capita beef consumption of 2.1% for 2016. Whilst Ireland exported approximately 97% of our beef exports in 2016 to EU (including 50% to the UK), I am very conscious of the importance of growing third country markets as a valuable outlet for any increased Irish beef production, and indeed this is a crucial component of the Food Wise 2025 strategy.  Significant progress has been made in this context in recent years and my Department is currently in the process of attempting to secure beef access to a range of Third Countries including China, South Korea, Ukraine, Thailand and Vietnam. This builds upon the opening of some major markets in the last two years including the US, Canada and Japan. This is a vital means of providing our beef sector with as many commercial opportunities as possible for Irish beef, in addition to our existing EU markets.