Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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186. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the amount of dairy and meat products that have been imported into this jurisdiction in each of the past five years to date, by volume and value; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39456/24]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Over the five-year period, 2019 to 2023, the volume of dairy imports fell from 1,046,533 tonnes to 975,484 tonnes, a decrease of 6.8%, while the value of dairy imports increased from €1,055.8 million to €1,167.3 million, an increase of 16.1%.

For the purposes of agrifood trade data, meat comprises the categories of beef, sheepmeat, pigmeat and poultry.

The volume of beef imported increased from 30,213 tonnes in 2019 to 36,568 tonnes in 2023, an increase of 21.5%. The value of beef imports increased by 55.3% over the five-year period, from €128.9 million in 2019 to €200.3 million in 2023.

The volume of sheepmeat imports decreased from 6,650 tonnes in 2019 to 5,494 tonnes in 2023, a fall of 17.4%. The value of sheepmeat imports fell by 1.5% over the same period, from €35.8 million to €35.3 million.

The volume of pigmeat imports decreased between 2019 and 2023, from 99,342 tonnes to 78,681 tonnes, a fall of 20.8%. The value of pigmeat imports increased by 4.1%, from €343.7 million to €357.8 million, in the same period.

The volume of poultry imports increased by 7.3% between 2019 and 2023, from 134,330 tonnes to 144,114 tonnes. The value of poultry imports rose by 20.8%, from €478.4 million to €578.1 million, over the same period.

It is important to consider agrifood imports in the context of corresponding exports. In 2023, Ireland recorded an agrifood trade surplus of €5.25 billion in dairy produce; €2.79 billion in beef; €525 million in pigmeat; and €384 million in sheepmeat.

A spreadsheet is attached for the Deputy's information, which includes a full breakdown of the value and volume for dairy produce, beef, pigmeat, sheepmeat and poultry imports for full years 2019 to 2023, and for the comparative period January to July 2020 to 2024, which represents the latest trade data available from the Central Statistics Office. The preliminary trade data for full-year 2024 is expected to be available in mid-February 2025.