Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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354. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide a schedule of additional animal welfare measures he and or his Department have put in place in respect of live exports of animals since 1 March 2020 to date in 2021; and if he will also provide an update in respect of the tracing of live exports from this State to other states in order to ensure animals are kept in the best condition and welfare possible on their journey. [27121/21]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Schedule of additional animal welfare measures:

In 2020 a suite of new measures was introduced, in order to safeguard animal welfare during transport. The main changes were as follows:

- Transport of animals to areas where there is a weather forecast of 30°C or greater was banned.

- The minimum space allowance in vehicles for 50kg calves was increased from 0.3m²to 0.325m²per calf – an increase of 8.3%.

- All use of sticks on or near calves was banned in Assembly Centres.

- The validity period of all new Driver / Attendant authorisations to drive or accompany animals on long journeys was reduced from 10 years down to three years, to promote ongoing animal welfare training.

- The required stop time after the ferry journey in Cherbourg for unweaned calves was increased from 12 hours to 13 hours, to account for unloading and reloading time and ensure they received a full 12 hours of rest.

- Enforcement of the return of Journey Log and Satellite Navigation data after long journeys of animals was stepped up, and retrospective checks on journeys were carried out to ensure the drivers respected the resting times and maximum driving times for animals.

From February 2021, the following main changes were introduced:

- The transporter’s Journey Log proposal must be submitted at least 2 working days before the planned journey, for EU / UK destinations, and at least 5 working days before journeys with destination outside of EU (apart from UK). This is to allow the Veterinary Inspector time to properly risk-assess the journeys before deciding whether to endorse them.

- Calves that weigh less than 40kg are not to be permitted on long journeys, to prevent weak or small calves from travelling.

- No animal transport to (or via) the Russian Federation and to Africa to be approved in July and August, and no transport to (or via) the Russian Federation to be approved in December/January.

Update in respect of the tracing of exports in order to ensure animals are kept in the best condition and welfare possible on their journey:

- For long journeys by road to countries outside the EU (with the exception of Britain) it is now DAFM policy to ask for real-time access to the satellite navigation’s system, in order to verify that the route and timings taken are consistent with the Journey Log.

- Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the planned accompaniment of cattle exports by Department vets had to be scaled back – one accompaniment of calves on the ferry to France took place in 2020 and in 2019, and one accompaniment of adult cattle on a dedicated livestock vessel bound for Africa took place in 2020 and in 2019. These programmes of accompaniment will resume once the Covid situation has improved to the point where it is deemed safe to do so.

- Enforcement of the return of satellite navigation and temperature monitor data was stepped up in 2020 and several retrospective checks of this data were carried out, to ensure drivers and transporters respected the statutory journey times and resting times for animals.

Cattle exports in 2021 to date, compared with same period in previous two years:

Cumulative Total by Country from 1 Jan - 9th May 2021