Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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471. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of sheep imported from Northern Ireland and the UK, respectively, in each of the past 24 months, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52856/18]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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The intra EU movement of animals is recorded on the Trade Control and Expert System (TRACES), which is the EU-wide online management tool for all sanitary requirements on intra-EU trade and importation of animals, semen and embryo, food, feed and plants. Movements are recorded at the level of Member State only on TRACES.

The attached table details the sheep imports from both Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom on a monthly basis for the past 24 months as requested by the Deputy.

It should be noted that figures for any given period are usually not recorded definitely for up to a period of three months due to the nature of animal movements, and, may be subject to revision for the purposes of completeness.

Table 1: Sheep Imports from Northern Ireland and UK 2017 & 2018

*Figures for 2018 are to 14^thof December only.