Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 14 May 2026
443. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of export health certificates that were issued by his Department for horses exported to Great Britain for slaughter in each of the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35821/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra444. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of horses that were exported from the Republic of Ireland to Great Britain for slaughter in each of the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35822/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra445. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of horses that were moved from the Republic of Ireland to Northern Ireland in each of the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35823/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra446. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his Department holds data on the number of horses transported from Northern Ireland to Great Britain in each of the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35824/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 443 to 446, inclusive, together.
All horses exported to Great Britain (GB) within the past five-year period have been processed in compliance with the GB Equine health certificate requirements. The GB Equine health certificate does not contain a field/section designated ‘For Slaughter’ and as such my Department does not have statistics on the number of horses certified for export to Great Britain for slaughter. However, for the purposes of keeping our Central Equine Database up to date, my Department does receive quarterly reports from the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) in GB, detailing the number of Irish registered horses that have been slaughtered in GB. The table below shows the number of Irish registered horses slaughtered in GB in the period 01 April 2019 to the 30 September 2025.
|
2019 |
425 |
|
2020 |
427 |
|
2021 |
196 |
|
2022 |
236 |
|
2023 |
253 |
|
2024 |
914 |
|
2025 |
697 |
An equine passport is mandatory for all equines that move jurisdiction on the Island of Ireland. The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) in Northern Ireland are responsible for all data and governance of equine movements between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.
As robust traceability is fundamental to equine welfare, the delivery of the Wall Report Action Plan is already having a positive impact for horses by ensuring accountability, more visible enforcement and increased transparency of how equines are managed. Substantial progress has been made, including the launch of a new central database linking 121,000 equines to their premises, and this ambitious roadmap will continue to guide system improvements.
