Poultry industry: Ireland's poultry sector is preparing for a drop in sales, which is expected following news that bird flu has arrived in Scotland.
Despite advice that chicken and eggs are safe to eat, the sector, worth more than €150 million annually, has contingency plans to deal with a sharp reduction in consumption.
Two meetings between the sector and Minister of State for Agriculture Brendan Smith have taken place to formulate a response to a fall in demand in the event of an outbreak of bird flu.
Minister for Agriculture Mary Coughlan has already allied herself with France, where bird flu has been found, and has secured EU permission to assist the industry with State funds. It is not clear if the financial assistance, capped at €3,000 for each producer, can be used if bird flu has not been found in the member state.
It has been suggested that producers would be paid for culling surplus fowl, thus easing a price collapse. Fourteen poultry slaughter plants are approved to EU standards. Overall, 6,000 are people employed in the poultry sector which represents almost 3 per cent of gross agricultural output.