Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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1739. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of live lambs and the quantity of sheep meat in tonnage that were imported from UK per month during the 2022 calendar year, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63140/22]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Data for imports is currently available for 2022 up to the end of September.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) uses the Trade Control and Expert System (TRACES) system to record sheep movements in terms of both imports and exports for the purposes of slaughter, breeding and fattening. Up to the end of September 2022 a total of 291,966 sheep were imported from the United Kingdom (UK). All of these were imported from Northern Ireland.

Data on imports of sheepmeat are available from the CSO. Up to the end of September 2022 5,999 tonnes of sheepmeat had been imported from the UK. By way of comparison, some 58,000 tonnes of sheepmeat, valued at €386 million, was exported from Ireland in 2021.

The below table provides the quantity of live sheep and sheepmeat imported for the first nine months in 2022 from the UK.

Live Sheep & Sheepmeat Imports UK 2022