Ireland sent food and live animal exports worth over €13.5 million to Israel between last October and January.
The information was released following a parliamentary question asked by Sinn Féin TD Darren O’Rourke.
The Meath East deputy also asked Taoiseach Simon Harris on the levels of exports to Israel since 2020 and if there has been any change in the level of agricultural exports since the Hamas attack in Israel on October 7, 2023.
The incident led to Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza which has left thousands of people dead.
Earlier this week European Union leaders, including Taoiseach Simon Harris, agreed to call for an “immediate ceasefire” in the conflict.
The also called for hostages taken by Hamas militants in the October 7 attacks to be released ad for “unhindered access to humanitarian aid at scale” for Palestinians.
Exports
Responding to Deputy O’Rourke’s question, Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach Hildegarde Naughton said that from October 2023 up to January 2024, which is the latest data available, €13,538,000 worth of food and live animals was exported from Ireland to Israel.
The minister noted that there is no single product group for agricultural products in trade statistics, but this sector is mainly covered by the “food and live animals” category.
In October 2023, almost €3.5 million worth of food and live animals were exported to Israel, while in January the figure stood at nearly €5.2 million.
Minister Naughton also provided annual data which revealed that Irish food and live animal exports to Israel were worth €31.9 million in 2023, €23.9 million in 2022 and €27.2 million in 2021.
In 2020, the value of such exports to Israel reached €17.1 million.