Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

881. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of lambs killed in meat plants here in 2018, 2019 and to date in 2020; the number that were Irish lambs compared to those imported from Northern Ireland or the UK; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24917/20]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Last year, Ireland exported sheepmeat valued at €317 million. 71% of export value was to EU markets, 20% to the UK, and 9% to the rest of the world.

Free movement of goods in the EU's Single Market in particular facilitates this free flow of trade and, of course, means that Ireland must be open to imports of live animals and food products from other parts of the Single Market.

My Department publishes a weekly sheep slaughter summary which provides a detailed summary of the different categories of sheep slaughtered in meat plants on a weekly basis and can be located at the following link www.agriculture.gov.ie/farmingsectors/weeklypricesslaughterfigures/sheepslaughterfigures/.

The following table outlines the categories of lambs and total ovines slaughtered in 2018, 2019 and 2020 (YTD).

The slaughter data recorded does not include details of country of origin.

However, 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 and phytosanitary requirements on intra-EU trade and importation of animals, semen and embryo, food, feed and plants. Therefore, all imports and exports of live sheep for the purposes of slaughter, breeding and fattening between Ireland and the United Kingdom, are recorded on TRACES. The following data was extracted from TRACES:

- A total of 280,369 sheep were imported from Northern Ireland up to the 01 September 2020

- A total of 461,507 sheep were imported from Northern Ireland in 2019.

- In 2018, 521,693 sheep were imported in total from the United Kingdom. The imported sheep numbers from Northern Ireland were not available for 2018, but, the vast majority of British sheep imports recorded on the TRACES system typically originate from Northern Ireland each year.

My Department will revert to the Deputy with the number of sheep from Northern Ireland consigned directly to slaughter.