Cost of pork crisis reduced

THE cost of compensating producers affected by the 2008 pork dioxin crisis is likely to be at least €50 million less than the original estimate of €200m.

The secretary general of the Department of Agriculture and Food, Tom Moran, said the final bill was now expected to be somewhere between €140m and €150m, with €20m of that coming from Europe.

Final claims were still being assessed, he said, so a total had not been arrived at.