John Gormley
Question:13 Mr. Gormley asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the extent of live animal exporting being conducted from this country. [9412/98]
Written Answers - Live Exports.
Official statistics relating to exports of live animals are maintained by the Central Statistics Office, and the last complete year for such data is 1996. These show that the following live animals were exported from Ireland in 1996: bovines, 191,296; pigs, 259,300; sheep, 130,176; horses, 2,097; poultry, 1,330,945; and other, 179. It should be noted, however, that the Central Statistics Office has indicated that data relating to trade statistics on live animals from 1 January 1993 may be incomplete as Customs border checks on intra-Community trade, following the introduction of the Single European Market, were in many instances eliminated. This had a direct impact on the timeliness and accuracy of data previously supplied to the CSO by Revenue. Figures maintained by my Department, for internal purposes, on exports of cattle, are broadly in line with the figures provided by the CSO.