The knowledge transfer event will take place on Tuesday morning for producers.

The order had been in place since October 12, requiring all kept birds to be housed indoors as well as heightened biosecurity measures.

Farmers are gearing up to attend the Irish Pig Health Society Symposium next week.

The decision to now withdraw this requirement is based on a number of parameters that indicate a reducing risk of a bird flu incursion.

In the past year or so, egg prices increased by 155% in the US and 62% in the EU.

There is "full justification" for a further substantial rise in pig price for next week’s pigs, the IFA said.

Despite record high prices on supermarket shelves, Irish egg producers say they are working at a loss.

Bird flu in Argentina has left China without approximately 7% of its huge chicken imports.

Topics have been announced for the Irish Pig Health Society (IPHS) 2023 Symposium, which takes place at the Midlands Park Hotel, Portlaoise on Tuesday, April 18.

The number of breeding pigs in the country has fallen to its lowest level since 1988, with just 127,500 recorded in the CSO's livestock survey as the pig farmers faced their toughest year in a generation, with some exiting the sector.

Poultry industry welcomes moves to a common EU approach to vaccination to control the disease as it changes to a year-round threat to poultry farmers

Ireland is only months away from seeing a shortage of eggs that is currently being experienced in the UK as producers exit the sector.

"Today marks the first positive move for Irish family pig farms, but this is only the beginning of what is required at farm level."

The most valuable eggs in Ireland could be produced by Ovagen, the Co Mayo biotechnology company that has developed the world’s first 'germ-free' eggs, for use in vaccine manufacture and other pharmaceutical and research applications.

Farmers are calling on the Government to retain the 9% Vat rate on gas and electricity as it prepares to announce its cost of living package this week.

A cause for the current outbreak, which was first detected on January 24, has yet to be identified.

There are "real concerns" among pig farmers for the sector and for their farms.

The investigation is ongoing, and affected flocks will be culled.

The findings might come as a surprise to those used to comparing sectors on farm profitability.

Pig farmers are in their 18th consecutive month of losing money. 

Countries around the globe have implemented massive culls to contain the spread of avian influenza but Ireland has managed to contain the spread

Teagasc advisors expect that 2023 will bring better times for Irish pig producers following one of their most difficult years in a generation.

The last remaining highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI H5N1) surveillance zone of 2022 has now been removed. The zone was located in Co Monaghan, with a small area of Northern Ireland also included.

Despite this increase and significant state support to the sector in 2022, the average pig farm will have incurred losses approaching €422,000 in 2022.

'The last couple of years it’s becoming more prominent around Christmas time'