Imports of potatoes should be stopped by the Department of Agriculture to prevent the possible introduction of foot-and-mouth disease into the State, the Irish Farmers' Association has said.
Some 40 or 50 lorries arrive in the State each week from England and Scotland carrying between 1,000 and 1,500 tonnes of potatoes, said Mr Malachy Mitchell, executive secretary of the IFA national potato committee.
There were "no controls so far in place from the Department in terms of ascertaining where the trucks are coming from, or if they are passing through a restricted area in the UK", he claimed.
Mr Mitchell said the virus could be carried into the State on vehicles and their drivers. He said he had received several complaints from beef and dairy farmers about this issue.
The IFA wanted measures to stop importation of potatoes, at least until the authorities in the UK had the situation under control, he said.
With a ban on the import of machinery and requests to stop the movement of people, the transport of potatoes into the State from the UK should also be stopped, he said. Mr Mitchell said the IFA president, Mr Tom Parlon, would be bringing the issue to the attention of the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh.
A spokesman for the Department of Agriculture said there was no threat of transmitting the virus from potatoes, or from the soil attached to them. Vehicles would pose a potential risk as a means of transferring the virus, but they would have to observe disinfection procedures on entering the State, he said.