134. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to PQ 50437/26, the reason his Department does not collect data on the number of, and the reason for mortalities for hen producers; the reason he considers it unnecessary to collect and assess this data; if he is aware of the significant mortality rate in the industry; and the way in which his Department can form an accurate and up-to-date record on the mortality rate in the industry, and the reasons for these mortalities in the absence of the provision of this data. [67407/26]

Mortality on poultry farms is not recorded or collated by my Department but it is assessed by my Department in the course of official control inspections on individual holdings. Mortality of poultry must be recorded by the producer and these records must be available for inspection by my Department. Evidence of raised mortality on farm or changing trends in mortality will be queried and further investigated by my Department where warranted.