Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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1604. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of live sheep imported into meat factories from Northern Ireland on a monthly basis in each of the years 2010 to 2016 and to date in 2017. [26858/17]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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1605. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of live sheep imported into meat plants from Great Britain on a monthly basis in the years 2010 to 2016 and to date in 2017. [26859/17]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1605 and 1604 together.

The movement of live animals from one Member State to another within the European Union is recorded on the European Commissions Trade Control and Experts System (TRACES). However there are no figures available from TRACES for the period prior to 2016.

However annual totals of sheep imported from Northern Ireland and slaughtered in the Republic of Ireland based on figures provided to my Department by slaughter plants for the period 2010 - 2016 are as follows;

2010: 390,534 (overall slaughter total: 2,119,843)

2011: 462,091 (overall slaughter total: 2,171,242)

2012: 406,619 (overall slaughter total: 2,431,283)

2013: 438,616 (overall slaughter total: 2,616,000)

2014: 378,699 (overall slaughter total: 2,599,039)

2015: 335,349 (overall slaughter total: 2,559,275)

Data from the TRACES system gives the following figures for 2016 and 2017;

2016:374,902 (overall total: 2,633,969)

2017 (to June 9th): 154,423

In relation to imports of sheep for slaughter from Great Britain (England Wales and Scotland), there were 689 sheep imported for slaughter from Britain in 2016. There are no other available records showing imports of live sheep from Great Britain for the remainder of the period as requested by the Deputy.