There are fresh concerns for the traceability of Irish food products after 25 horses due to be slaughtered and supplied to the food chain were found to have false identities.

The international search for the source of the horsemeat scandal has met with denials from one of the Polish suppliers involved but has become clearer closer to home.

Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney says his department has made a major breakthrough in tracing the source of the horse meat found in Irish beefburgers.

The Minister for Agriculture and Food has said that a food production company embroiled in the horse meat burger controversy needs to back up its claim that no imported ingredients were used in their products.

Food producers are not required, under existing regulations, to check the content of what they add to burgers, it has emerged.