Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 November 2021
716. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the tagging requirements of sheep; the details of the tracking system or central register for identification; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56887/21]
View answerThe rules governing the identification of sheep are determined by Commission Regulation (EU) 2016/429, supplemented by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/2035 and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/963. These rules are implemented in Ireland via the National Sheep Identification System (NSIS).
All sheep must be identified electronically by nine months of age, or on leaving the holding of their birth, whichever is the earlier date.
Lambs moving directly to slaughter from their holding of origin while aged under 12 months may be identified with a single electronic tag, inserted in the animal's right ear.
All other sheep must be identified with a full electronic tag set consisting of an electronic tag in the right ear and a corresponding conventional tag in the left ear. An electronic bolus set comprising an electronic bolus implanted into the stomach of the sheep and a matching conventional tag is also permitted.
All sheep tags (and boluses) must display an individual animal identification number encompassing the unique sheep designator assigned by the Department to the holding on which an individual sheep is born. Sheep tags can only be purchased by registered sheep keepers and can only be sourced from tag suppliers approved by the Department. The Department's systems allocate and record the details of all sheep tags (and boluses) ordered.
As sheep are not identified at birth, the Department does not maintain a central identification register for sheep.
However, in accordance with EU legislative requirements, all sheep movements are recorded on a batch basis on the Department's central Animal Identification and Movement (AIM) system. All sheep movements must be accompanied by a uniquely numbered dispatch document listing the individual tag numbers of all sheep in the batch.
Both parties to a movement must retain a copy of the associated dispatch document. In addition, sheep keepers are legislatively required to record the details of all movements into and out of their holding on a flock register. The register must further record the number of sheep notified to my Department in the context of the annual sheep census, the submission of which is also a legal requirement.
Flock registers must be kept up-to-date at all times and must be immediately presented to an authorised officer when requested for inspection purposes.
Sheep slaughter plants which are approved by my Department, together with a significant number of marts, have also been authorised by my Department to operate as Central Points of Recording (CPRs). CPRs scan all sheep moving to those locations and notify the individual identification numbers of all sheep moved to these premises to my Department where the data is retained.
