The high level of cattle deaths on Irish farms in 2003, which was described as "shocking" by animal welfare groups, has not dropped this year.
An investigation into the deaths of nearly 200,000 animals last year, demanded by the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mr Walsh, has still not been completed.
The issue of deaths of cattle on farms surfaced again this week with the publication of the Cattle Movement Monitoring System Statistics report which gave a breakdown of last year's deaths, which had increased by 2.2 per cent on the previous year.
The breakdown, available for the first time because of the CMMS computer system and the legal demand that all deaths be reported, showed that 69,491 male animals and 127,242 female animals died on farms last year.
The months of March, April and May saw the biggest number of deaths in female beef animals, with nearly 11,000 deaths in April, most of them heifers and cows over 30 month old.
The corresponding figures for male beef cattle were almost half those in the females.
A profile of the deaths of female dairy cattle also showed February, March and April, traditional calving time, as having accounted for most of the deaths.Nearly 10,000 animals died in March 2003. Male dairy cattle deaths were 22,889 compared to the 53,627 deaths in female dairy animals. However, 3,500 males died on farms in March 2003.
When he raised the issued earlier this year, the Minister said that he was disappointed with the level of deaths which was running at approximately 10 per cent of the number of cattle slaughtered.
He said he had asked his veterinary staff to work with the regional laboratory services and veterinary practitioners to find out why the animals had died and to provide farmers with preventative advice.
Veterinary sources indicated last night that the level of cattlefarm deaths had not decreased this year. However, the levels were in line with European norms.