The Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture and Rural Development(DARD) has been criticised for the lack of controls at Northern Irish ports that contributed to the spread of foot-and-mouth.
The first independent report into the 2001 FMD crisis, compiled by Dr Patricia Clarke for the Centre for Cross-Border Studies, examined the smuggling of infected sheep from Britain on February 19th, 2001, which led to the outbreak of the disease.
The report criticised the ease with which a "direct for slaughter" certificate could be obtained and highlighted the difficulties of tracing ‘missing’ sheep due to the practice of weighing trucks, coming into Northern Ireland from Britain, to estimate the number of sheep aboard, instead of counting them individually.
The report also compared efforts made by the Irish Government to control the disease at airports and ports, with those enforced in Northern Ireland.
It said that although there was "early criticism" of the control and disinfectant procedures in the Republic, such as disinfectant mats, they were "generally considered by passengers disembarking from ferries coming from Britain into Northern Ireland to be of the highest quality". Such measures were put in place for vehicles, drivers and foot passengers coming into the Republic on March 4th.
"The protection at entry points against importing infection from Britain was a critical element of the Republic’s overall defence - so much so that the Irish Government provided additional disinfection facilities at British Sea ports, claiming that ‘the British port authorities there were unwilling to do so’", the report stated.
But DARD said the disinfectant mats "were never seen by this department as representing a particularly effective defence against FMD" and that a decision was taken to disinfect vehicle wheels instead.
The report’s main recommendation suggested that an all-Ireland expert advisory group be established, such as that set up to advise Minister for Agriculture Mr Joe Walsh last year, to become active in any future animal health emergency affecting the whole island.