THE Department of Agriculture moved yesterday to reassure farmers that the latest cases of BSE were not likely to damage the controversial beef deal concluded with the Russian authorities.
It emerged that the Russians had been informed of the latest three BSE cases and the Garda inquiries into two recent cases of the disease, before the details announced in the Dail.
As it was confirmed that gardai have received the papers from the Department to investigate a suspected "imported" case into another herd, Mr Pat Rogan, the chief veterinary superintendent at the Department, said the additional cases would not have any impact on the deal.
He said the deal with the Russians, which excludes beef from Cos Tipperary, Cork and Monaghan, would be up for review next January.
The Department is expecting more cases of the disease between now and the end of the year which so far has seen 41 confirmed cases of BSE, more than twice the yearly average since the disease was first identified in 1989.
The Department said yesterday that no new cases of the disease had been confirmed.
It was learned that only one case of the disease has been diagnosed on a Munster farm where three sick animals had been presented to Department officials. The Department had feared the country was to experience its first multiple BSE outbreak. Only one of the three animals tested positive for BSE.
There was a welcome, too, from the industry yesterday for the news that the EU Beef Management Committee had accepted Irish tenders for 10,700 tonnes of beef for intervention.
Experts in the industry say this will take more than 30,000 bullocks off the market at a price of 83 p a lb. This will help stabilise the beef market at a time when most of the animals are ready for slaughter.
It will also provide an outlet for beef from the "banned" counties, where an estimated 25 per cent of the State's beef animals are made ready for the markets.
There were also reports that Ireland would benefit from a scarcity of beef in Britain caused by an increase in consumption there and the unavailability of suitable animals for the super-market trade caused by the British slaughter policy. Farmers are expecting buyers for the British and Northern Ireland markets to be active at marts next week as the trade gears up for the lucrative Christmas market.
British experts are predicting that the scarcity of suitable beef is likely to continue until March and this will help underpin Irish prices.
Considerable quantities of Irish vacuum-packed beef are still being exported to Britain and the Continent, despite the impact of the BSE scare which has led to a drop in consumption.
The president of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association, Mr Frank Allen, last night welcomed the comments of Dr Michael Farrell, of Beaumont Hospital, that consumers were more likely to be "run over by a No 16 bus" than to die of CJD from eating beef.
Mr Allen said it was important for consumers to be made aware that not one person in Ireland has died from the form of CJD which is suspected to be linked to eating BSE-infected meat.
The Institute of Professional Auctioneers and Valuers said last night that the rapid increase in agricultural land prices had been halted in many parts of the country because of the impact of BSE. It said the 20 per cent increase experienced in some counties last year has been knocked back to 10 per cent.
On Monday, the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Yates, will chair a farm ministers' meeting in Luxembourg where reform of the entire EU beef regime will be up for discussion.
The Commission has brought forward a series of proposals which are aimed at reducing production by different means, including calf-slaughtering schemes, reducing EU intervention rates and changing premiums.