Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 10 February 2022
128. Deputy Neale Richmond asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the breakdown of agri-food exports to European Union member states over the past five years; the way that this has been impacted by Brexit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6500/22]
View answerI will share separately with the Deputy a detailed table setting out the agri-food exports to each EU Member State for the period 2016 to 2020.
On the wider point of the impact of Brexit on Irish exports to EU countries, there is no doubt that, since the UK referendum result in 2016, there has been ongoing uncertainty about how Irish-UK, Irish-EU and UK-EU supply chains will be impacted.
However, despite these uncertainties, the value of agri-food exports to the EU has proven to be resilient over the period 2016 to 2020, with exports increasing by some 21%, or €800 million. For the same period, the value of exports to the UK also increased by 5.5%, or just under €300 million. The UK market remains the largest market for Irish agri-food goods, representing, on average, 37% of total exports per annum.
Looking at data for the first 11 months of 2021, exports to the UK have again remained resilient, growing by 2.2% in value terms compared to the same period in 2020. Exports to EU Member States over the same period in 2021 have grown by 3.5%.
The full impacts of Brexit are still evolving, with new UK import requirements for food imports from EU countries, including Ireland, coming into effect in a phased manner throughout 2022. We will continue our preparations for these in close collaboration with food business operators, and I remain confident that Irish exporters will be well-placed to service UK and EU markets into the future, despite the challenges presented by Brexit.
