Teagasc Activities

Tuesday, 12 May 2026

Questions (890)

Paul Lawless

Question:

890. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will request Teagasc, and where appropriate the Central Statistics Office, to provide the annual average number of lambs weaned per ewe in the national mid season lowland sheep flock for each year from 2000 to the most recent year available, as reported in Teagasc National Farm Survey sheep reports or equivalent publications; the total number of lowland breeding ewes in the national flock for each year from 2000 to the most recent year available, distinguishing, where possible, between lowland and hill ewes; the monthly number of lambs slaughtered in Ireland, separately identified from adult sheep where data allow, or alternatively a seasonal or quarterly breakdown, for each year from 2008 to the most recent year available, as recorded in the CSO livestock slaughtering series, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34881/26]

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Written answers

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine

The question is addressed under three headings by reference to various datasets which are publicly available and accessible online for downloading and further analysis.

Lambs per lowland ewe

Data regarding the annual average number of lambs weaned per ewe in the national mid-season lowland sheep flock can be sourced from the Teagasc NFS Farm Enterprise Dashboards (dated October 2025) – relevant figures on weaning rates from 2012 onwards can be be found under flock size distribution for lowland sheep on slide number 61 out of 85: https://app.powerbi.com/view?r=eyJrIjoiNGU2Mjk5NWYtZGFhZi00ZWFkLWExMWQtZWUyNWMzYTIzMWM3IiwidCI6IjQ1MmE2ZjYyLTgyNDktNGQwZi05MjA3LTZiMzNiNmNkZmQ2NCIsImMiOjl9&pageName=3fe32e13abbfc66053cb.

Hill versus lowland ewes

Central Statistics Office (CSO) data does not distinguish between hill and lowland sheep or ewes. The CSO publishes two enumerations annually, in June and December.

For mid-year data, refer to the following resources: https://data.cso.ie/table/AAA09, https://data.cso.ie/table/AAA07, and https://data.cso.ie/table/AAA01.

For end-year data, the relevant datasets are: https://data.cso.ie/table/AAA06 and https://data.cso.ie/table/AAA02.

Note that the tabulated historic data is discontinuous due to changes in data collection methodology, There are three distinct datasets for June data from 2000, and two datasets for the December enumeration.

The only official publication that separately categorises lowland and mountain sheep breeds is the Sheep and Goat Census results conducted and compiled by my department. The census reports can be found here: www.gov.ie/en/department-of-agriculture-food-and-the-marine/collections/national-sheep-and-goat-census-reports/.

These census reports capture annual data on lowland breeding ewes in the national flock, with reports available for the two decades from 2005.

Sheep slaughter data

Monthly data on sheep slaughter are available from both the CSO and Eurostat. CSO data identifies sheep kill by head and volume.

The CSO monthly dataset is available here: https://data.cso.ie/table/ADM01.

Additionally, my department publishes data on sheep slaughter in its weekly Meat Market Reports. These reports identify four categories of ovine throughput:

• lambs / hoggets;

• spring lambs;

• ewes and rams; and

• light lambs.

Note that the Meat Market Report data pertains only to approved export premises, whereas CSO / Eurostat data also includes local abattoirs. Meat Market Reports can be found here: www.gov.ie/en/department-of-agriculture-food-and-the-marine/collections/meat-market-reports/.