Animal Passports

Tuesday, 31 January 2023

Questions (772)

Matt Carthy

Question:

772. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of dogs and other animals that entered Ireland in 2022 from each applicable country; and the number within each that were subject to a health status and health documentation check in line with the EU Animal Health Law, Regulation 429/2016, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4274/23]

View answer

The following deferred reply was received under Standing Order 51:

All animals entering Ireland are subject to EU sanitary requirements. These requirements are in place to reduce the risk of importation and spread of disease. The requirements for animals generally to enter Ireland are outlined in the EU Animal Health Law, Regulation (EU) 429/2016. This relates to both intra-community trade and imports into the Union. The specific requirements for a pet (dog, cat ferret) to enter Ireland are outlined in Regulation (EU) 576/2013. Any animal which does not meet the health requirements set out in these regulation are quarantined or returned to the country of origin. In accordance with Article 32 of Regulation (EU) 576/2013 and, by way of derogation from the conditions provided for non-commercial movements of pet animals, Member States may, in exceptional situations, authorise the non-commercial movement into their territory of pet animals which do not comply with the conditions in Regulation (EU) 756/2013 . This measure was availed of during 2022 recognising the exceptional circumstances created by the invasion of Ukraine, the use of this derogation ended in November 2022.

Any animal or product of animal origin entering Ireland from outside the EU requires health certification and undergoes checks at the Border Control Post (BCP) upon entry. Their health status and health documentation are checked. Whilst all pets entering from third countries are checked, pets entering from the EU undergo spot checks.

If a pet is non-compliant, then the pet will be placed in official isolation until the pet is compliant with entry requirements.

The table below outlines the number of dogs moved into Ireland from other countries during 2022, as recorded on the EU TRACES system, and on the Department’s internal systems.

		PQ 4274/23 – dog movements into Ireland in 2022
Country	Animals	Checks
Grand Total	17,201	16,000
Albania	1	1
Argentina	11	11
Armenia	2	2
Australia	256	256
Austria	10
Bahrain	7	7
Barbados	3	3
Belarus	3	3
Belgium	12
Bermuda	7	7
Brazil	158	158
Bulgaria	23
Canada	293	293
Cayman Islands	3	3
Chile	13	13
China	30	30
Colombia	1	1
Costa Rica	2	2
Croatia	1	1
Cyprus	2
Czech Republic	24
Egypt	2	2
El Salvador	1	1
Finland	1
France	1770	1770
Germany	8
Georgia	1	1
Guatemala	2	2
Hong Kong	187	187
Hungary	7	7
Iceland	1	1
India	24	24
Indonesia	3	3
Iraq	1	1
Isle of Man	26	26
Israel	24	24
Italy	8
Japan	2	2
Jordan	3	3
Kenya	1	1
Korea, Republic Of	2
Kosovo	1	1
Kuwait	3	3
Latvia	13
Lebanon	4	4
Lithuania	92
Malaysia	7	7
Mexico	15	15
Moldova	3	3
Morocco	1	1
Netherlands	103	103
New Zealand	7	7
North Macedonia	2	2
Northern Cyprus (Turkey)	1	1
Oman	9	9
Pakistan	1	1
Palestine	2	2
Peru	1	1
Philippines	8	8
Poland	1	1
Portugal	2	2
Qatar	22	22
Romania	1	1
Russian Federation	37	37
Saudi Arabia	3	3
Serbia	7	7
Singapore	10	10
Slovakia (Slovak Republic)	32
South Africa	216	216
South Korea	8	8
Spain	7	7
Sweden
Syria	2	2
Taiwan	2	2
Thailand	8	8
Turkey	46	46
Ukraine	975	1
United Arab Emirates	99	99
United Kingdom	11655	11655
United States	844	844
Uruguay	2	2
Uzbekistan	1	1
Venezuela	1	1
Vietnam	10	10
Zambia	1	1

Question No. 773 answered with Question No. 752.

Question No. 774 answered with Question No. 752.