The State will not be clear of foot-and-mouth disease until 200,000 blood samples being taken from sheep are all found negative, the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, said yesterday when he announced a further easing of foot-and-mouth restrictions.
The Minister said in allowing farm-to-farm sales of cattle under permit, he realised he was easing restrictions on the most dangerous of activities which would involve animal-to-animal contact.
However, he said, the expert group advising him on foot-and-mouth controls had recommended this activity be allowed subject to very strict conditions which would ensure the disease would not be spread.
He warned the farming community not to lower its defences against the disease. He said in easing the restrictions he was conscious of the need to balance protection against the build-up of animals on farms.
"We will not be in the clear in our fight against foot-and-mouth disease until we have successfully carried out the blood testing of 200,000 sheep all over the State and that will take six weeks," he said.
Asked how confident he was of keeping the disease out of the State, Mr Walsh said: "Hopeful is as strong a word I would use that we can continue to exclude an incursion of the virus".
He said controls at ports and airports would have to continue until at least 30 days after the last confirmed outbreak in Britain.
The foot-and-mouth outbreak, he said, had taught the Department a great deal and in its wake would come major changes. Farmers would have to continue to protect their farms with disinfectant mats.
He said the high movement of stock would also be examined. During their investigations, he said, they found one load of sheep had come from 14 counties.
He added that while some farms had achieved high hygiene standards, some had not and in future, because of multiple movements, farmers, their farms and their vehicles would have to be brought up to standard.
Reacting to the announcement, the president of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association, Mr Pat O'Rourke, said the package had struck a proper balance between the need for movement and continuing precautions.
Farm-to-farm movement, he said, would relieve a lot of difficulties and provide many thousands of farm families with the first cash income for many months.
But the largest farm organisation, the Irish Co-operative Organisation Society, the umbrella group for the co-op movement, said it was extremely disappointed the Minister had not allowed livestock marts to be used as controlled assembly points for livestock being sold.
Mr Dessie Boylan, the president of ICOS, said it had provided the expert group with protocols to allow marts be used as assembly points for collection, but this had not been allowed. He said he wanted a meeting with Mr Walsh and the farm organisations seeking a reversal of this decision.
The president of the Irish Farmers' Association, Mr Tom Parlon, said he was concerned marts would not be used as collection points and in the absence of a real market price, as marts were closed, there were many difficulties ahead.
The Irish Cattle Traders' and Stock Owners' Association also welcomed the announcement. Macra na Feirme said it was important the new system should not become a charter for unscrupulous dealers.