Central Statistics Office

Agricultural Accounts and Production Section

Agricultural Accounts and Production Section,

Central Statistics Office,

Skehard Road,

Cork

The dataset contains the number of hens laying eggs for human consumption and  the number of eggs produced during the reference year. In addition to national totals, results are also avilable by size of producer. Data on the number of laying hens  by farm size comes from our FSS survey. The total number of eggs produced for human consumption comes from an annual census of egg producers with a capacity of 50 or more laying hens conducted by our ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. These total eggs are then apportioned to the various farm size classes based on the total number of laying hens in each size class.

The only classification is by size of producer.

Group A01.4 of NACE Rev.2

See sections 3.4.1 to 3.4.10 below 

Not relevant

Not relevant

Not relevant

Not relevant

None

An agricultural holding with laying hens

All agricultural holdings with at least 50 laying hens

All agricultural holdings with at least 50 laying hens are included. The number of laying hens and eggs for consumption on holdings which are above the national threshold but less than the Eurostat threshold are classified separately and thus are clearly distinguishable.

100% of agricultural holdings with at least 50 laying hens are covered

All regions within Ireland are covered.

Ireland only transmits the data every 3rd year. Currently,  data is only available for 2013 and 2016

Reference year 2013

2016

None

None

The reference date used is the 1st June 2016

The number of laying hens is coming from FSS, which has a reference date of June 1st.

ESS Agreement on statistics on eggs for consumption (2017)

Not applicable (for the 2018 metadata collection)

Not applicable (for the 2018 metadata collection)

Not applicable (for the 2018 metadata collection)

Not applicable (for the 2018 metadata collection)

Not applicable (for the 2018 metadata collection)

Not applicable (for the 2018 metadata collection)

Not applicable (for the 2018 metadata collection)

Not applicable (for the 2018 metadata collection)

Eurostat database

Eurostat database

Not applicable (for the 2018 metadata collection)

Not relevant

The data is not published nationally and therefore no specific national documentation exists

Not applicable (for the 2018 metadata collection)

Not applicable (for the 2018 metadata collection)

Not applicable (for the 2018 metadata collection)

The data is primarily collected from the purposes of meeting DAFM requirements, satisfying the ESS agreement on eggs for consumption and the needs of national accounts and agriculture accounts

The main national users are the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, National Accounts and Agricultural Accounts. The collection fully satisfies their requirements

Not applicable (for the 2018 metadata collection)

The data fully satisfies the requirements of ESS agreement

The number of laying hens by producer size is collected as part of the FSS. (See FSS 2016 quality report for details on the overall accuracy of this data). Data from DAFM (ministry of agriculture) is used to estimate the number of eggs produced. All egg producers are legally obliged to register with DAFM. Each year, DAFM issues a census to all of these registered egg producers. From this census they provide us with the total number of egg producers on their register, the capacity of these establishments, the number of returns received, the total capacity of those returnees and an estimate of the total number of eggs fit for human consumption produced by all producers on their register. The response rate for 2016 was 64% of producers which corresponded to 86.9% of the total capacity of all producers. As we know the total number of eggs fit for human consumption produced (from DAFM) and the number of laying hens in the required size classes (from the FSS), we apportion the total number of eggs produced into the various producer size classes based on the number of layings hens in each size class. This is a potential source of error as we assume that the average number of eggs fit for human consumption produced per laying hen is the same for all size classes.

Not applicable (for the 2018 metadata collection)

Not applicable (for the 2018 metadata collection)

Not applicable (for the 2018 metadata collection)

Not applicable (for the 2018 metadata collection)

The data is only produced at national level

The data was only transmitted  to Eurostat once (i.e. for the reference year 2016), but national data was compiled for the years 2013 and 2016. These two datasets are fully compatible.

Number of laying hens producing eggs for human consumption: As part of our FSS survey, the CSO collects detailed information on the number of various different categories of poultry held on farms on the 1st June of the reference year. One of these required categories is the number of laying hens which produce eggs for human consumption. This FSS data is the source of the number of laying hens contained in our eggs for consumption dataset. Therefore, the number of laying hens as per our Eggs for Human Consumption dataset is fully coherent with the FSS and is the number of laying hens producing eggs for human consumption as at June 1st of the reference year.

Number of eggs produced for human consumption: There only one available source of data on the number of eggs produced  for human consumption and this is the source that we use for our eggs for consumption dataset, namely data from our ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Marine's annual census of egg producers with 50 or more laying hens.

Not applicable (for the 2018 metadata collection)

Not applicable (for the 2018 metadata collection)

Not applicable (for the 2018 metadata collection)

Not applicable (for the 2018 metadata collection)

Direct observation. A census of egg producers with a capacity of 50+ laying hens is conducted by the Department of Agriculture annually.

The frame used for this survey is the register of egg producers held by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM). The survey is a census of all producers with at least 50 laying hens.

Not relevant

Annual

Not applicable (for the 2018 metadata collection)

Not applicable (for the 2018 metadata collection)

.

Not relevant. The data comes from a census of producers. 

No adjustment is performed

None