THE decision to accept a Russian ban, on beef from three counties leaves Ireland open to similar bans from other countries, according to Senator John Dardis, the Progressive Democrats' agriculture spokes man. He described the agreement by the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Yates, to accept a Russian ban on beef from counties Monaghan, Tipperary and Cork as a "crazy deal".
"The Minister has sold the Russians a fiction of regionalisation and, in so doing, has invited more trouble from our other export markets."
Russia had insisted on the ban because of the incidence of BSE in the three counties. Mr Yates has argued that he had no choice but to accept the deal.
The Department of Agriculture's failure to convince Russian buyers that all Irish beef was safe showed that it had no credibility with key buyers, said Senator Dardis. "The Department of Agriculture employs 2,000 people in its inspectorate alone, considerable resources indeed for a country our size, he said. "Yet, despite these vast resources, we are still unable to carry out the basic task of assuring customers that our food is safe."