Coveney: Horse meat issue exposed because of Ireland's vigilance

The Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney is briefing his Cabinet colleagues on the latest developments in the horse meat controversy today.

It comes as Nestle, the world's largest food company, removed beef pasta meals from sale in Italy and Spain after finding horse DNA in two products.

It said the contaminated beef came from a supplier in Germany.

Minister Coveney said Ireland has led the way on this issue and will continue to do so.

He said: "I would like to think that it was because of Ireland's vigilance and testing systems that this issue was exposed.

"Ireland will continue to show the way in terms of responding comprehensively to what is fraud, but is also a huge consumer issue."