Details of a scheme aimed at tracking cattle from birth to their entry into the food chain have been announced by the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh.
He said the scheme, which will follow millions of animal movements each year, should maintain consumer confidence at home and overseas in the wake of the BSE crisis.
The scheme means that beef which does not meet the correct standards can be traced back to its origin and action can be taken against the producer.
By using information produced during the traceability programme, an infected animal and its relatives can be quickly taken out of the food chain, reducing the spread of disease and infection levels.
The traceability programme is part of the National Beef Assurance Scheme, which is costing the State £6.5 million.
It revolves around a system known as the Cattle Movement Monitoring System, which seeks to record all movements of cattle to and from farms and marts, to meat factories and for live export. This information will help to verify the origin, identity and life history of animals before they enter the food chain.
Mr Walsh described the programme as the "Rolls-Royce of traceability schemes" and said it will help An Bord Bia to market Irish beef abroad.
"It is a huge undertaking capturing the movements between 150,000 herds, through 100 marts, to 470 abattoirs and then for export," he said yesterday.
He was speaking at the launch of a new beef initiative between Tesco Ireland and Avonmore Waterford Group in Stradbally, Co Laois.
Computer equipment is currently being installed around the State in marts and factories to collect the data. These computers will be linked to a central database which will hold the information.
For those cattle movements which take place outside the marts system, a paper notification system will be used, Mr Walsh said.
Some farmers present when Mr Walsh announced the details of the scheme yesterday expressed concern at the amount of time and paperwork involved for farmers in the scheme.
However, Mr Walsh rejected this and said consumers were demanding this level of traceability. "It is of little use in having a quality product unless the consumer is aware of it," Mr Walsh said.