Six convictions follow foot and mouth probes by Gardaí
There have been six successful prosecutions to date arising out of the 2001 outbreak, the Dáil has been told by Agriculture Minister Joe Walsh. One individual was prosecuted for the illegal importation into the State of sheep from Britain and received a 10 month prison sentence.
Another was prosecuted for obstruction and received a fine of 250.
Convictions were also obtained in the case of a third person in relation to attempting to obtain ewe premium by false pretences.
This person was fined and bound over to the peace for two years.
A fine of 10,000 and a four month prison sentence was imposed on a fourth person in relation to a range of offences, but this is currently under appeal.
These offences include dealing in an illegally imported animal, failure to keep a herd register, false animal passports and tagging offences.
Two other persons were found guilty of assault and of collecting and keeping swill.
A fine of 3,250 and three suspended six month jail sentences were imposed against one of the individuals and a fine of 1,500 and five suspended six month jail sentences were imposed against the other. A further six cases have been referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), who recommended that charges should be proferred in four of these cases.
Two of these cases relate to illegal importation of sheep from Britain following the ban on movement after February 21, 2001.
One of these was struck out at Dundalk District Court recently.
A number of other investigations are going on, at meat plants and on farms.
“In addition, resulting from our findings in the Cooley Peninsula during the foot and mouth disease crisis, there are 24 ewe premium cases which have been referred to the Gardaí and subsequently sent to the DPP,” said Minister Walsh.
He was replying in the Dáil to Labour Party leader Pat Rabbitte.
