An appeal to farmers to rid their herds of older cows to further lower the incidence of BSE has been made by the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mr Walsh.
"We know the disease is confined to older female animals and yet we come across cases of the disease in animals as old as 18," he said.
"It is a pity this is happening because it's not good husbandry to have an animal of that age, and it also jeopardises our national disease status," he said.
Mr Walsh was commenting on the dramatic fall in the number of BSE cases uncovered in the State this year.
The fall has been such that his Department has been able to cut its estimate for dealing with the disease in the coming year from almost €150 million this year to just over €80 million.
However, Mr Walsh also announced that his Department would reduce the subsidy for BSE tests on cows to €8 per animal from the middle of the year. The test costs €28.
This week's BSE figures showed a continuing decline in cases since the beginning of the year, despite intensive testing.
Three cases of the disease detected this week brought to 164 the number confirmed so far this year.