Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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504. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 1125 of 22 January 2025, if all 256 horses certified for export from Ireland for slaughter in France were actually exported; the method and route of transport used; and the number that were thoroughbreds. [4700/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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Applications to export 256 horses for slaughter were processed for 2024. Of these 175 horses were certified as valid for actual travel at the point of loading. These figures are taken from the TRACES system which is the EU online platform for animal health certification.

The indicated method of transport was by road vehicle and onward transport by sea. It is not a requirement of the application for certification to indicate the point of exit. The TRACES system does not require the breed of the animal and a report showing breakdown by breed is not available from TRACES data.

Physical checks at exit points are carried out on a risk basis and so it is not possible to confirm if all the horses in question actually exited the country.