The Irish Renderers' Association, which has been handling the rendering, storage and disposal of meat and bone meal from Irish meatplants, was told yesterday by the Department of Agriculture that it would no longer subsidise the operation from the end of this month.
The eight plants in the State have been receiving €45 million in subsidies to dispose of the meat and bone meal because of the BSE problem.
Last night a spokesman for the association said it was left in a situation where it would have to pass back the costs involved to the meat industry, and this was estimated at €20 per animal.
The industry handles 600,000 tonnes of offal from Irish meatplants.