"I DON'T understand why it took the Taoiseach two days to contact the Egyptian Prime Minister about the ships of Irish cattle off the coast of Alexandria," Mr John Dardis (PD) declared. Speaking on the damage being caused to this State by the BSE which was destroying the British beef industry, Mr Dardis said Ireland was faced with a propaganda machine which was generating misinformation about Irish beef. It had to be fought if we were to survive the current crisis.

He was speaking on a Seanad motion for approval of the Bovine Diseases (Levies) Regulations, 1996, introduced by the Minister of State for Agriculture, Mr Jimmy Deenihan.

Mr Dardis said that when he had spoken recently about the obligations on Irish politicians and business people to set the record straight about the difference between Irish and British beef to countries around the world he had been asked if they should all get their passports and get on planes to distant countries.

"I said that, to me, the answer to that is `yes'. We should get our passports out and go to the countries that most affect our beef exports and tell them of the fundamental difference involved. When we have forgotten who won the by elections in Dublin and Donegal, we will never forget the days wasted in tackling the BSE crisis, he said.

It was crucial that the political damage in the current situation be limited, he stressed.

It was also vitally important that the "conspiracy of silence" around the beef industry must not be allowed to continue. They all knew that "angel dust" was still being used and that other practices were in force which were damaging the industry.

Mr Dardis challenged the Minister on why there was not a consumer representative on An Bord Bia. This was something the PDs had campaigned for several years ago without success. Ironically, it was now being called for by members of different parties.

Mr Sam McAughtry (Ind) said that from now on the State was faced with a huge public relations battle to enable it to overcome the current difficulties and to sell the hard earned reputation of Irish beef. They should particularly try to penetrate countries which had bought pedigree stock from Ireland.

It was unfortunate that the industry in the North of Ireland was "sticking with the undertow" of the Titanic position of the British beef industry.

The public relations drive should include every TD, every senator, and every person connected with the industry. They should be cautioned to watch what they said about the beef industry.

Mr Rory Kiely (FF) said the worries about BSE and Irish beef were not being urgently addressed. The message was not getting across to the Irish consumer. In recent days, he believed great danger had been caused to the Irish industry when it seemed it was being "drawn down into the quagmire" that the British beef industry was in. He asked why there had been "complete silence" from the Minister for Health on the issue.

The debate concluded.