Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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1303.To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the size of the national dairy herd for each of the past 15 years, in tabular form; if there is a target figure for the size of the national herd; and if he will make a statement on the matter.[35935/24]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Comprehensive data on dairy cow and other livestock numbers is available from the CSO through the following links and associated datasets, for June and December each year:

June: www.cso.ie/en/statistics/agriculture/cropsandlivestockjunefinalresults/

December: www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-lsd/livestocksurveydecember2023/

There is no target figure for the national dairy herd. It is notable that dairy cow numbers have largely stabilised from 2021 to 2023, at 1.6 million in June and 1.5 million in December, following significant growth after the abolition of EU milk quotas in 2015.