GARDAI are to hold another investigation into the source of a case of BSE. This emerged yesterday as the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Yates, told the Dail of three new cases of the disease.
The Department has already called in the Garda to investigate the source of three animals on a Munster farm, to find out if they have been deliberately introduced to enable the farmer involved to collect compensation for the herd.
One of these animals has proved to be infected with BSE and the Department is waiting on the results of a post mortem examination of the other two animals from the State laboratories in Abbotstown, Co Dublin.
Yesterday, it was learned that a similar investigation into a BSE case in another herd has been completed by the Department and gardai will be asked to find out if the animal had been deliberately introduced.
The three new cases bring the total since the disease was first identified in the State in 1989 to 156. They were found in herds in Carlow, Donegal and Wexford and will involve the slaughter of 459 animals.
The Carlow case involves a 12 year old cow in a 330 strong herd, the Donegal cow is seven years old and is in a herd of nine suckler animals. The Wexford case involves a seven year old cow in a 120 strong dairy herd. This brings to 41 the number of cases so far this year.
In the Dail yesterday the Minister said he expected the number of cases of BSE to double or even treble this year over last year's total of 16. He had earlier explained that there were a number of suspected cases currently under laboratory investigation.
Consumer reaction to the latest scientific research in Britain which shows that nvCJD in humans has a similar pattern to that seen in BSE is not yet being felt on the Irish market. Butchers and supermarkets have reported no loss of sales.
Ms Patricia Murray, of An Bord Bia, said she did not believe the current scare would have any effect on the home market, which had initially dropped by 40 per cent after the breaking of the controversy in Britain last March.
She said An Bord Bia's autumn beef campaign had been a tremendous success and some retailers had reported increased sales on the same time est year, well before the market disruption began in March. Referring to the new scientific information, Mr Yates said the Department of Agriculture had always worked on the assumption of a possible or probable link between the two diseases and had established controls to cope with the possibility.
A statement from the Minister for Health, Mr Noonan, said the British research was consistent with previous indications of a link between BSE and nvCJD reported in March this year in the UK.
It is important to note that this study does not show a link between BSE and the classic sporadic form of CJD which occurs to a low level in Ireland. The additional controls introduced since March 1996, anticipated developments of this type," said the statement.
The EU Agriculture Commissioner, Mr Franz Fischler, said the research shows that the risk of transmission to humans is a fact - it is not the proof, but it is one more proof".
A commission spokesman warned there would be no relaxation of the ban on British beef products. He said there was now no excuse for delay by the British government in carrying out the selective cull of 147,000 cattle.
Ms Caroline Gill, of the Consumers' Association, repeated her call for an independent food safety agency which would focus on the consumer rather than on production and marketing.
The Irish Farmers' Association, which yesterday took out advertising in national newspapers announcing details of a Total Quality Assurance Scheme it wishes to introduce, said it was committed to implementation of the stringent BSE controls put in place by the Government.
However, a Dublin Labour deputy, Dr Pat Upton, said farm leaders and the Departments of Agriculture and Health must accept that BSE was transmissible to humans.
The public, he said, needed an independent assessment of the risk attached to eating beef.
"It is essential that the ongoing debate on BSE is conducted in the unemotive language of science instead of political and public relations obfuscation and spindoctoring," said Dr Upton.
Mr Noel O'Connor, of the Irish Butchers' Association, which will introduce a Quality Assurance Scheme next month, made a plea for unity within the industry. He said the latest study had not proved a definite link between BSE and CJD.
Mr Yates, who had apologised unreservedly to the Dail for unwittingly misleading deputies on the circumstances of the signing of the beef deal with Russian authorities, said the Russians had also wanted to exclude beef from Longford, Wexford, Donegal and Limerick.