A FILE is being prepared for the DPP by gardai in Co Cork on a man who has been questioned about the alleged importation of a BSE infected cow from Northern Ireland.
The man was arrested and questioned last week about the importation and his claim for compensation from the Department of Agriculture for the destruction of his herd of approximately 140 animals. To date no compensation has been paid.
Department investigators had been concerned last autumn when the animal was presented as a genuine case of BSE but the eartag did not seem to match the age of the diseased animal.
They investigated the possibility of importation from Northern Ireland where there are nearly 1,700 infected animals and where compensation is paid only on a diseased cow.
In the State, full market value is paid for all the animals in a herd where the disease is identified before they are destroyed and taken from the food chain.
There had been persistent rumours that diseased animals in the North were being offered for sale to farmers in the State for about £5,000.
A major difficulty facing those seeking such an animal was that the price of an infected cow was doubled where a farmer was seeking delivery across the Border.
To bring an animal across the Border meant eluding Operation Matador, a £1/2 million a week Garda operation which sealed the Border and continues to do so. Since it was imposed in late March, 930 animals have been seized by patrols in 78 consignments. Forty one of these consignments have been destroyed, involving 457 animals.
The remaining animals have been impounded or returned to the North.
While the Garda involvement in the Border operation has declined since September, according to the Department, Garda and Customs mobile patrols, backed by Army personnel, have been equally effective.
No beef can be exported from Britain or Northern Ireland because of the worldwide ban imposed by the EU.