FG urges statement on BSE controls

Fine Gael has called on Agriculture Minister Joe Walsh to declare whether or not BSE controls implemented in the mid-1990s are sufficient to prevent the spread of the disease.

The call follows confirmation this morning that a three-and-a-half-year-old bull has tested positive for BSE in Co Limerick, the first animal born after 1997 to contract the disease.

Irish beef is marketed on the basis that no animals born after the introduction of the controls has tested positive for BSE.

Fine Gael spokesman Billy Timmons said the news is worrying. "It is disappointing, but I hope the Minister can deal with this straight away," he said.

"I am calling on him to outline how a bull born in 1999 became infected with BSE and if he is satisfied with the controls we have in place.

"I think it is important to reassure the consumers by coming out as soon as possible and outlining what actually happened in this case."