More than 3,000 cattle were slaughtered under the BSE destruction scheme in ten plants around the country yesterday bringing the total so far this week to 9,227. 4,000 were destroyed last week.
The Minister for Agriculture Joe Walsh met EU commissioner Franz Fischler in Berlin where they discussed the "test or destruct" scheme in Ireland. The Minister explained the importance which this country places on the reopening of markets for Irish beef. Mr Walsh sought an increase in subsidies for beef exports to countries outside the EU and the commissioner undertook to consider this.
Meanwhile, beef contaminated with the remnants of a spinal cord has been seized by inspectors during checks against BSE, or mad cow disease, in Newry. The 41 thousand kilos of meat had been imported from Germany. Officials in the North now want the case to be investigated by the German authorities and the European Commission. A German government minister said that the country now expects to have between 200 and 500 confirmed cases of BSE by the end of the year.
Sixteen BSE cases have been confirmed in Germany since the emergence of the first case last November.
