The Minister for Agriculture, Mary Coughlan, has said she is continuing to treat the foot and mouth disease outbreak with the utmost seriousness.
Speaking after a meeting in her department this morning, Ms Coughlan said the temporary ban on the importation from Britain of live animals and fresh meat products will remain in place and be reviewed in the coming days.
Meanwhile, the President of the IFA, Padraig Walshe has said it is astonishing that the possible source of the strain of foot and mouth is a world reference laboratory.
He again said that an unacceptable risk is being taken here by allowing the importation of beef from Brazil where foot and mouth is endemic.
Britain's Environment Secretary, Hilary Benn, has said health and safety inspectors are to carry out a check of the government-funded laboratory at the centre of the foot and mouth outbreak in southern England.
Mr Benn told the BBC there would also be an urgent review of biosecurity at the Animal Health Laboratory at Pirbright in Surrey, which is just three miles from the farm where 65 cattle were culled.
The strain detected in Surrey is not one normally found in animals, but is similar to ones used in diagnostic laboratories and vaccine production.
The facility is shared between the Institute and a private pharmaceutical company, Merial Animal Health, which develops vaccines to protect cattle against foot and mouth disease.
Merial has halted vaccine production as a precaution.
The managing director of the company has said his company's own initial investigation shows no breach of procedures at its plant in Pirbright.
David Biland told reporters tonight that his firm had never had a breach in bio-security but would cooperate fully with the government investigation into the Foot and Mouth alert.
Britain's Chief Veterinary Officer, Debby Reynolds, said it was too soon to say anything conclusive about the source of the virus.
