THE European Parliament's opposition to allowing an increase in the amount of beef taken into intervention is threatening the meat industry, the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Yates, said yesterday.
There could be dire consequences for Irish farmers if the dispute with the EU Parliament, which described as a "stand off", is not resolved, he added.
Mr Yates, who had just returned from late night talks in Brussels with EU farm ministers, said aa decision on raising the invention beef tonnage following the BSE crisis was now a matter urgency.
In five weeks time the 400,000 tonne limit will have been reached and if a decision is not made to allow more beef be put into intervention the system will "grind to a halt, with disastrous consequences for the market", said.
Agriculture Ministers have called for 720,000 tonnes of beef to be allowed into intervention this year, 500,000 tonnes next year and 350,000 in 1998.
The price of cattle in Ireland has dropped by almost 18 per since March, when the British House of Commons was told that there appeared to be a link between the "mad cow" disease and the human equivalent, CJD. Mr Yates said he did not believe cattle prices would fall further.
The Minister said he was not overly concerned about the latest incidents of BSE in Irish cattle but has ordered a report into the circumstances of the recent cases and has sought details on the age of the cattle which contracted the disease The incidence of BSE in Ireland was small and sporadic compared to British figures.
There have been 28 cases of BSE this year. On Monday the Department of Agriculture announced that there were three new cases. The first case was in Co Limerick, where 350 cattle will be destroyed. The second was in Co Monaghan, where there were 51 cattle in the dairy herd. The third case was in a suckler herd in Carlow and 165 cattle from the farm will be destroyed.
In all there have been 143 outbreaks of the disease in Ireland since 1989.
The Department of Agriculture is considering introducing stricter measures on the sale and supply of poultry rations which contain meat and bone meal, so that surplus rations do not get sold to farmers for cattle feed.
Meanwhile, at a meeting in Brussels yesterday it was decided that animals over 390 kg could be sold into intervention for September, but the EU will only pay for 390 kg.
The Minister for Agriculture described the decision as the "last chance saloon" for Irish farmers to sell off heavier animals before tighter measures governing the carcass weight are introduced.