‘Almost half’ of raw beef imports come from Britain – minister
Imports from Britain "typically" account for almost half (48%) of all raw beef imported annually into Ireland, according to Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon.
Minister Heydon gave this figure in response to a question from Fianna Fáil TD Ryan O'Meara, who asked for the percentage of beef imported from UK/Great Britain in 2025 and 2026 “which was born, reared, and slaughtered” in the UK/Great Britain.
The minister said that imports from Britain “typically account for almost half (48%) of the total volume of raw beef imported annually into the country”.
He added: “The Central Statistics Office is responsible for the compilation of official trade statistics in accordance with harmonised EU standards developed by Eurostat.
“These official trade statistics are based on revenue data and do not capture the provenance of imports.”
Provenance
Minister Heydon added that "information on the provenance and processing of beef is subject to EU food labelling rules".
He said: "The overarching legislative framework is contained in Regulation (EU) No. 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers.
“Under this regulation, the general rule is that an indication of the country of origin or place of provenance is mandatory where failure to indicate this might mislead the consumer as to the true country of origin or place of provenance of the food.”
The minister also outlined an existing rule about the origin of a food’s primary ingredient.
He said: “Article 26(3) of the regulation provides that where the country of origin or the place of provenance of a food is given and where it is not the same as that of its primary ingredient, the country of origin or place of provenance of the primary ingredient in question must also be given.
“This article prohibits misleading food information which implies a certain origin of a food, when in fact its true origin is different.”
Total beef imports
Last month (April 14), Deputy O’Meara asked Minister Heydon for figures on total beef imports.
The minister's answer included percentages for both Great Britain (GB) and Northern Ireland (NI).
He replied: “In 2025, the total volume of beef imported into Ireland was 40,910 metric tonnes (mt).
“The UK accounted for 36,871mt, or 90%, of that total with quantities split almost evenly between GB (53%) and NI (47%)."
According to Minister Heydon, a further 8% originated from other EU member states. with the remainder coming from non-EU countries.
He said: “The import statistics must be viewed in the context of the overall beef trade data which shows that almost 460,000mt worth €3.64 billion was exported from Ireland last year.
"It should be noted that these figures are preliminary estimates and subject to revision.”
