A farm in Carlow is the latest farm to be placed under restriction as foot-and-mouth operations continuing across the Republic. From tomorrow a new permit will be available to certify the movement of livestock for slaughter.
There has been no confirmed foot-and-mouth case in the Republic to date but a farm at Myshall, midway between Bagenalstown and Bunclody, in Carlow has been sealed of as precautionary measure.
According to a spokesman for the Department for Agriculture the Carlow farm has been restricted to allow gardaí and the Department of Agriculture officials carry out tests.
He said they were acting on the suspicion that the farm had imported sheep from North England via Northern Ireland.
No animals on the farm are expected to be slaughtered and there are strong indications that the farm will be found to be free of the disease. "The restriction has been placed on the farm in line with similar measures across the country and is purely a precautionary," the spokesman he said.
A new permit system was announced by the Department for Agriculture yesterday under which susceptible animals - cattle, sheep, pigs, goats and deer - can be moved to slaughter plants.
The permit has been introduced as a further tightening of foot-and-mouth control measures already in place. The permit will be available from tomorrow and will facilitate the transport of animals directly to slaughter houses.
On making the announcement, the Minister for Agriculture Mr Walsh said the movement of animals other than certified animals for slaughter was restrictly prohibited. He reminded farmers of the severe penalties for breaches of this prohibition.
A Government contingency plan, which would be immediately implemented should an outbreak be confirmed, has also been drawn up. This is thought to include closing schools and other public places and restricting movements of people and vehicles in areas where an outbreak might occur.
Mr Walsh said yesterday he was cautiously optimistic the Republic would escape an outbreak of the disease following the news that initial tests for foot-and-mouth disease on samples from sheep on a Co Louth farm have proved negative.
Patrols are continuing on the border. There are now 4,000 personnel in place to assist in the efforts to prevent the spread of the disease into the Republic including the gardaí, the defence forces and Department of Agriculture officials.
Investigations also continued yesterday at three locations in the Republic; at a farm in Co Louth, the Kildare Chilling plant and at Kepak meat-processing plant in Athleague, Co Roscommon.
Northern Ireland Agriculture Minister Ms Brid Rodgers announced yesterday further tests on farms in the North showed there were no further suspect cases of foot-and-mouth disease. Only one case on a farm at Meigh, on the Armagh-Louth border has been confirmed.