The expert group set up by the Department of Agriculture to advise it on avian flu will meet later today following confirmation of the presence of the potentially deadly virus in a dead swan in Scotland.
The announcement by the British government yesterday evening prompted a formal risk assessment here by the Department of Agriculture's special advisory committee which was continuing late last night.
The gloom over the news that the potentially deadly H5N1 strain of the virus has reached these islands was deepened by the discovery of the remains of five birds at the River Bann near Portglenone, Co Antrim and other bird remains near Moira, Co Down.
The bodies of the birds, understood to be swans, have been taken for a preliminary examination by scientists at the non-governmental Agriculture Biosciences Institute laboratory at Newforge in south Belfast.
Results expected today will establish if further, more detailed tests are required to confirm Ireland's first case of bird flu.
The Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mary Coughlan, said while she accepted the Scottish case had increased the risk of it arriving here, there was a "high level of preparedness".
"We were on a low to medium risk. What we need to do now is not to go over the top on this issue as the veterinary people would say. We're working very closely with the veterinary people in the UK, we will be making decisions in accordance with the risk that has been put forward," she said.
The Minister said she would be guided by the expert group as to what new regulations should be brought in as a result of the Scottish outbreak.
She said she would not be making any decisions on poultry management until she received the report from the expert group, which is chaired by Prof Michael Monaghan of UCD.
Her decision to wait until later today to decide on issues such as the housing of outdoor flocks drew severe criticism from Fine Gael's spokesman for agriculture Denis Naughten. He said the Government could not afford to wait 24 hours to act on the serious threat that now faces Ireland's commercial poultry flocks and he called for immediate action from Ms Coughlan.
Deputy Naughten said he was making his comments in light of the suspected bird flu cases in Down and Antrim. He said the Minister should act now instead of waiting for advice from the group of experts.
In other developments, SDLP agriculture spokesman PJ Bradley said that ministers with responsibility for agriculture north and south should get together to detail exactly what is being done to combat bird flu.
Sinn Féin demanded a ban on all imports of poultry to the island of Ireland in light of the confirmed avian flu case in Scotland.
The party's Dáil leader and health spokesperson, Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin, said there needed to be a much more determined and concerted approach by the Irish Government to combat the very real threat that avian flu now poses to the poultry industry and, if it becomes established here, to human health.
The Department of Health said it did not believe the arrival of the H5N1 strain of avian flu in Scotland had implications for human health.
Senior department sources said last night that the issue was still being considered as a condition strictly affecting birds and poultry.
However, they said the department was continuing with preparations for dealing with any human flu pandemic that may occur.
The IFA National Poultry Committee chairman Ned Morrissey said the case of bird flu in a swan in Scotland was not unexpected due to the normal patterns of migration in wild birds.
Mr Morrissey said flock owners were safeguarding their domestic flocks by having the highest levels of bio-security measures in place to avoid any exposure to wild birds.
A dead swan found in Meath yesterday and a sick swan found at a Dublin location were being examined last night by veterinary experts in Dublin.