Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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223. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of pigs slaughtered in Ireland in 2022; the methods of slaughter used; the number that were slaughtered by gassing; and if will consider banning the latter given the distress and suffering it causes to pigs in the final minutes of their lives. [15621/23]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The total number of pigs slaughtered in Ireland in 2022 was 3,541,602.

Pig slaughter is carried out at premises approved either by my Department or the Local Authorities. Pigs are stunned prior to slaughter, mainly using CO²gas, in order to ensure loss of consciousness. The methods of stunning and slaughter used in Ireland are in accordance with the relevant EU and national legislation, in particular Council Regulation 1099/2009 on the protection of animals at the time of killing.