Govt admits BSE won't be eradicated until 2003

The Department of Agriculture has admitted that mad cow disease will not be fully eradicated from the Irish herd until at least 2003.

Despite fresh cases of the disease over the past 12 months, department officials have insisted that Irish beef remains among the safest in the world.

Agriculture Minister Joe Walsh has stressed that there is no risk of variant CJD, the human form of BSE, developing in Ireland because only cattle under 30 months old can enter the food chain