Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 February 2022
954. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of sheep imported to the State by year and origin in each of the years 2018 to 2021 and to date in 2022; if tariffs applied to such imports; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7916/22]
View answerThe Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine uses the TRACES system to record sheep movements in terms of both imports and exports for the purposes of slaughter, breeding and fattening.
Traditionally, most live sheep imported into Ireland have come from the UK, including Northern Ireland. In 2021, a total of 367,936 sheep were imported.
The below table provides both the country of origin and the quantity of sheep imported each month in 2021.
Sheep Imports 2021
|
Month |
Northern Ireland |
France |
Belgium |
Holland |
Total |
|
January |
35,034 |
|
|
|
|
|
February |
26,160 |
|
|
|
|
|
March |
22,469 |
|
|
|
|
|
April |
19,053 |
|
|
|
|
|
May |
20,394 |
|
|
|
|
|
June |
18,919 |
|
|
41 |
|
|
July |
37,816 |
|
99 |
|
|
|
August |
38,842 |
11 |
|
|
|
|
September |
40,947 |
15 |
|
83 |
|
|
October |
30,462 |
|
68 |
|
|
|
November |
42,995 |
|
|
|
|
|
December |
34,494 |
24 |
|
10 |
|
|
Total |
367,585 |
50 |
167 |
134 |
367,936 |
The below table provides the quantity of sheep imported each year from 2018 to date.
Sheep Imports 2018 - 2022 YTD
|
YEAR |
Total |
|
2018 |
521,798 |
|
2019 |
461,522 |
|
2020 |
426,984 |
|
2021 |
367,936 |
|
2022 (YTD to Feb 9th) |
9,491 |
Currently, no tariffs apply between the EU and UK.
