The destruction of all animals over nine years old in the cattle herd to wipe out BSE in the State has been ruled out by Minister for Agriculture and Food Mary Coughlan.
The Minister has also revealed that she had been advised there will be approximately 165 cases of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy uncovered in Ireland in the next five years.
The Minister estimated that there were in excess of 450,000 cattle in the national herd which were born before 1996 when the segregation of the manufacture of cattle rations and pig and poultry rations was ordered by the EU.
This action, which meant cattle and sheep were not exposed to contaminated meat and bonemeal, has led to a dramatic fall in the number of animals being diagnosed with BSE and most of the new cases were being found in animals born before this date.
Dealing with the value of the 450,000 older cattle, the Minister said it was difficult to value them other than by their output of milk and calves.
"However, based on recent values of BSE suspects in this age category, the value of such animals would range from €500 to €1,000 per animal.
"Taking the lower figure, the value of all pre-1996 born animals left in the population would be at least €225 million," the Minister said in a written reply to a Dáil question.
Ms Coughlan added that trends observed over recent years indicate that approximately 165 cases of BSE are expected to be diagnosed in Ireland between 2005-10.
Using that figure and the average cost of compensation for herd depopulation in 2004, the projected gross cost of compensation of herd depopulation as a result of BSE from 2005 to 2010 would be approximately €18.6 million