GARDA action is expected soon over a Department of Agriculture official who is being investigated for allegedly selling blank departmental health certificates to a ring involved in selling British calves to the Continent.
The ring used the certificates to pass off British animals as being of Irish origin. The subterfuge was necessary because European countries forbid the importation of British animals over six months old and animals from BSE infected herds.
The Minister for Agriculture, Mr Yates, said yesterday that disciplinary and criminal proceedings are likely to be issued in the next few days in the ease, which involved a senior official of the Department.
He said the Department had investigated the allegation, details of which were reported exclusively in The Irish Times of October 27th last, when it emerged that animals had been imported into Italy without proper documentation or tags.
A series of raids were carried out by the Department's Special Investigation Unit and the Garda, and later Mr Yates said he had suspended the trading activities of a group of companies when fraudulent Department documents tags, stamps and letter headings were uncovered.
He said the documentation had, apparently, been used to facilitate the shipment of animals into Italy. Spain and France. These countries do not import British animals, but do import Irish animals.
Speaking on the RTE radio programme, This Week, the Minister said that the report in the Sunday Times yesterday about the incident was "broadly correct".
He added: "My Department, in conjunction with the gardai, has carried out a number of raids on factories last year and this year which have led to a situation of uncovering certain illegal activity. As we speak, that inquiry is ongoing, and I am satisfied that any abuses of certification have now been stopped and the full rigours of the law and due process in relation to disciplinary or other procedures will be put in place.
He said what had happened was "an appalling and unacceptable activity", but it had been uncovered by his Department, which was dealing with it relentlessly, and he believed the DPP and others would be bringing it to its final conclusion shortly.
There was only one specific case of animals being imported from Scotland to the North of Ireland and then into the Republic illegally. There was no evidence this was a widespread practice, but the ring involved in the specific case had been stopped.
"Obviously there will be malicious stories in relation to the Irish beef industry. Our stock is worth £5 billion. It is a vital national industry, but we are determined, whether it is illegal substances or smuggling, to stamp out any abuses," he said.
He said the public would see that unannounced raids and anti fraud activity were delivering results at the present time.