A claim that Ireland had acted illegally and broken EU law by banning the importation of poultry from Britain for gatherings and shows, was rejected last night by the Department of Agriculture.
A spokeswoman for the European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection, Markos Kyprianou, said that Ireland could face legal sanctions from the EU for imposing the partial ban to prevent the spread of avian influenza.
"Any ban in this case by an EU country against another EU country is illegal," Mr Kyprianou's spokeswoman said. "We will be looking into this in more detail, but the procedure as you know is that any breaches of EU law can lead to infringement procedures being taken against that country."
Last night a spokesman for the Department of Agriculture said that it had acted at all times within EU rules, which it fully respected.
"We have operated within EU law and we imposed the partial ban following consultations with the British and Northern Ireland authorities," he said.
He said Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales had introduced similar bans and it had moved with the Northern Ireland authorities as the issue of avian flu was being approached on an all-island basis.
The ban, which was taken as a precautionary move, does not apply to poultry products but to the movement of live birds such as falcons, pigeons and exotic birds.
Speaking on the adjournment in the Dáil on Tuesday night, Minister for Agriculture Mary Coughlan had addressed the issue of a poultry ban.
"At no time was a ban on the importation of poultry or poultry products contemplated," she told the House. "Such a measure would have been entirely disproportionate and, under community law, illegal."
Internationally, the OIE organisation which monitors global animal health confirmed a new outbreak of the disease in Pakistan in birds. No humans have been infected.