AQW 53070/22-27

Mr Eóin Tennyson
Alliance Party
Upper Bann

Tabled Date: 25/09/2026
Answered On Date: 30/09/2026
Priority Written: Yes

Question:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs to detail the number of deprivation orders that have been granted since 2016.

Answer:

Departmental records indicate that, between 1 January 2016 and 29 September 2026, eight deprivation orders were granted by the courts in cases involving farmed animals and recorded by the Department. The annual breakdown is set out below:

Year	Number of deprivation orders
2016	2
2017	0
2018	0
2019	1
2020	1
2021	0
2022	0
2023	0
2024	1
2025	1
2026 to date	2

These historic figures should be read with caution. Enforcement case files, which would normally contain copies of deprivation orders, are retained for seven years only. Some older records are therefore no longer available for cross-checking. Figures for earlier years have been collated from other available datasets, which may not capture every deprivation order granted during the period. The total of eight therefore represents the best information available from departmental records in relation to cases involving farmed animals.