Coveney hoping for answers on horse meat scandal 'within hours'

Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney has said that he is hoping to have answers to how traces of horse meat got into Irish burgers "within hours".

Minister Coveney has moved to allay fears about Irish beef products after horse DNA was found in burgers manufactured in Ireland - and sold in Dunnes, Tesco, Lidl, Aldi and Iceland.

Minister Coveney said that he has spoken to the head of Tesco Ireland this morning to discuss the company's concerns.

He said that there is a robust food-tracking system in place in Ireland from farm to fork, with an audit carried out on one of the processing plants in question just last month.

"We would have done an audit of Sivercrest, which is the company in the spotlight here, in December," he said.

"So the meat that has come into that processing facility from Ireland is fully traceable back to the farm, and what we're trying to track at the moment is the added product that we think came from abroad, and hopefully within hours, but certainly within days, we will have the answers to those questions."