The Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture has said that Britain does not seem to have got the foot and mouth outbreak under control. Eamon O'Cuiv said that not only were there fresh outbreaks but that they were very geographically dispersed. Speaking over the weekend, the Minister of State, Hugh Byrne, described Britain as the leper of Europe.
Minister Byrne reiterated these comments today. He said that he thought the crisis there still had not peaked and that the British government did not have a handle on it. He said that the British government should look at the Irish experience and put more restrictions in place. Deputy Byrne said that the holding of Premiership games, rugby matches and race meets in Britain was crazy and he praised sporting bodies here. The Minister denied his comments were "bashing Britain", saying the Government and people here had to protect our patch and not allow foot and mouth in so that we did not suffer the consequences.
In a separate development, the group of experts set up last week to advise the Minister for Agriculture about foot and mouth controls has been having its first meeting in Dublin. Minister Joe Walsh hinted on Friday that if another week passes without any cases of foot and mouth here some activities might be resumed. However, he insisted that because of the rising figures in Britain there is a real danger of the disease entering this country and there is no basis yet for relaxing any of the controls in place.
Earlier today, the President of the Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association, Pat O'Rourke, has said that it was reckless in the extreme to allow movements of horses, under any circumstances, between Ireland and Britain.
There has been mounting criticism here of insufficient safeguards being taken in Britain where the number of cases is still rising. So far today, nineteen more outbreaks have been confirmed bringing the overall figure to 182. Speaking in Brussels today, Charlie McCreevy ruled out the possibility of funds being made available for industries, such as the tourism sector, that are affected by the foot and mouth crisis.
