Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 2 July 2024
338. Deputy Réada Cronin asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the age of the youngest and oldest horse slaughtered at a facility (details supplied); the average age of the horses slaughtered since operations began, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27841/24]
View answerBased on data submitted to my Department's Animal Identification and Movement (AIM) system database by passport issuing organisations (PIOs) regarding the date of birth of horses, as part of the registration of births, and the date of slaughter of horses, the calculations are as follows:
The youngest animal slaughtered at the facility referenced, since operations began in 2015 is 0.33 years. Using the same data the oldest animal slaughtered was 39.18 years and the average age of slaughter was 10.48 years.
Please note this data should be interpreted with caution as 22% of animals slaughtered had a default date of birth of the 1st of January of the year in question as, prior to 1 November 2018, only the year of birth was required to be provided on registration of a horse. Since the introduction of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/1940 on the 1st of November 2018 the actual date of birth is required in the format DD/MM/YYYY.
