Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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205. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the countries to which Ireland exports beef; the volume and value in 2018 of such exports by country, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2278/19]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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206. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the countries to which Ireland exports lamb; the volume and value in 2018 of such exports by country, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2279/19]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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207. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the countries to which Ireland exports pork; the volume and value in 2018 of such exports by country, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2280/19]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 205 to 207, inclusive, together.

In 2018 Irish agri-food exports reached an estimated €13.6 billion. Within that, overall meat and livestock exports increased by 1% to an estimated €3.97 billion according to the Bord Bia Performance and Prospects 2018/2019 report which I launched last week.

Bord Bia estimates the total value of beef exports, including offal, at just over €2.5 billion in 2018, an increase of 1% overall. The volume of beef exports, excluding offal, rose to an estimated 579,000 tonnes in 2018. The total volume of pigmeat exports is expected to increase to 264,000 tonnes while the value of pigmeat exports declined by 6% to an estimated €666 million. Sheepmeat exports in 2018 were estimated at €315 million, a 15% increase on the 2017 levels.

However, in order to provide a breakdown of exports at country level, as requested, it is necessary to use CSO trade statistics. CSO trade statistics for the whole of 2018 are not yet available. The following tables provide all the beef, pigmeat and sheepmeat exports for the period from the start of January to the end of October for 2018, the latest period for which data is available.

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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208. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the countries to which Ireland exported food and drink products to in 2017 and 2018; the volume and value of such exports by country, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2281/19]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Irish Agri-food exports and imports are broken down into categories identified and agreed by my Department and the Central Statistics Office. Products and Raw goods are categorised using combined nomenclature codes, a European harmonised system used to classify goods for customs and trade purposes. These categories include items such as Forestry and Animal Hides and Skins, along with traditional Food and Beverage products.

In 2018 as part of a wider exercise in relation to trade, my Department undertook an exercise examining the way in which we classify Agri-food sector products. This exercise aims to provide an up-to-date and detailed statistical representative of Ireland’s Agri-food sector. The exercise resulted in the addition of a number of combined nomenclature codes, mainly in the forestry and wood-based products categories and the deletion of other codes relating to waste paper products.

This brought the total of Irish Agri-food exports to approximately €13.8 billion in 2017, including non-edible products such as forestry, animal foodstuffs and animal hides and skins (which account for approximately €1.5billion of the total).

In 2017 Irish Agri-Food goods were exported to over 180 countries worldwide; increased output and the consistency of global demand for key products were the driving force behind these results.

Full year figures for 2018 are not yet available. However projections based on exports from January – November indicate that total value of Agri-food exports for the full year 2018 will be down between 1.5-2% on full-year 2017 figures while it is estimated that the volume of exports for 2018 will be up by around 3-3.5% compared to 2017.

The table in the following link provides a full breakdown of export destinations in 2017 in respect of both value and volume of goods based on CSO data. The provisional 2018 export data from the CSO will be available in mid-February 2019 with final 2018 export data available in mid-March 2019.

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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209. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the countries to which Ireland exports dairy products; the volume and value in 2018 of such exports by country, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2282/19]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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In January to October 2018, Ireland exported dairy products, including dairy ingredients to 137 countries totalling over €3.7 billion worth of produce in the first 10 months of the year. The following table, based on CSO data, outlines details in respect of values and tonnage by country. It is understood that the first CSO estimates for the full year 2018 will be available in mid-February. Irish dairy products have a highly rated and hard earned reputation in terms of quality, safety and sustainability, and this gives them a competitive edge in markets over the world. My Department, in conjunction with other stakeholders, including the Irish dairy companies and agencies such as Bord Bia, are playing a key role in building the market for Irish dairy with intensive Ministerial trade mission programmes and other promotional work. Against the backdrop of our efforts to significantly increase dairy output and grow the sector, export market diversification is of the upmost importance, and this is particularly true in the context of a post-Brexit scenario.

Aggregate dairy exports in the January-October 2018 period increased by approx 2.7% in volume against 2017, indicating another robust performance by the Irish dairy sector in international markets. Where anomalies are identified in the statistical data, the Department will liaise with the Central Statistics Office to highlight and amend the information as required.