MINISTER'S RESPONSE:The presence of organic pollutants known as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) was first detected early last week, but the samples had to be sent to England before the presence of the dioxins could be confirmed.
That confirmation from the English labs only came through on Saturday.
Mr Sargent said the incident pointed to the need for a dioxin facility here, and this would have to happen soon.
"While we will have dioxin monitoring facilities in Ireland, at long last, we don't at present, which means that it does take the time to send samples to England and nearly a week to get the results back," he said on RTÉ radio yesterday.
The Minister insisted the Government had done everything possible "in the shortest amount of time possible". Mr Sargent said a laboratory near Maynooth, Co Kildare would in the coming days provide further details on the source of the problem.
The Minister added that only a small amount of pork had been affected, but because it was mixed in with the system, the Food Safety Authority had recommended recalling all pork products dating back to September 1st.
