The projected number of cattle to be culled in Ireland over the next six months as part of the EU's BSE control plan has been described today as a "total overestimation".
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Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) president Mr Tom Parlon has said the 750,000 animals expected to be slaughtered "could be reduced by half".
Under the Purchase for Destruction scheme, all animals aged over 30 months which have not been Enfer-tested for BSE will be destroyed.
Mr Parlon, however, has urged that this figure be kept to a minimum for the sake of Ireland's reputation as a beef producer.
He said it was important that the testing scheme, which may reduce the number of cattle destroyed, be operated alongside the destruction scheme.
"Ireland is now the first country in Europe to be able to guarantee from this morning that every animal is "tested BSE free" before it enters the food chain", he added. The base price to be paid on steers and heifer is 91p per lb - an increase of five per cent on the Government's original offer.
The EU will pay 70 per cent of the cost. The remaining 30 per cent, plus all processing costs from point of intake to final disposal, will be paid by the Exchequer. This is expected to amount to more than £200 million this year.
Eighteen meat processing plants throughout the country have been named by the Government to facilitate the PFD scheme. They are expected to slaughter up to 25,000 cattle each week.
An estimated 875 tonnes of so-called risk material will also be produced.
A spokesman at the Department of Agriculture said today that the Government are looking at a number of options for the disposal of the waste, but a Dáil consensus last November had found "no viable alternative to incineration".