The reticence of the public to provide information on livestock smuggling in the Cooley area, where the Republic's first outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease occurred, has been condemned by the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh.
His criticism came as the hunt for foot-and-mouth suspects was intensified.
The Irish Country Meats factory in Camolin, Co Wexford, was closed yesterday as a precaution following the discovery of a lamb suspected of having the disease. Samples were sent to Perbright Laboratory in Britain and preliminary results are expected today, at the earliest. Last night officials said the animal was unlikely to have foot-and-mouth as it was locally produced.
The Minister said it was difficult to get hard information on illegal activities in the Cooley peninsula area adjoining the Border. The Department of Agriculture was "working on scraps" because "the people directly involved were extremely reticent", he said.
"It is cross-Border type activity and there is a long history of smuggling and illegal activity there but we are getting scraps of information all of the time from the people directly involved."
Mr Walsh said it had taken four weeks to get information which led to the culling of 1,200 sheep last weekend. As a result of investigations, 4,505 sheep and 220 cattle from outside the Louth area had been culled.
The hunt for smuggled sheep has become intense. A helicopter was used to identify and locate sheep in rugged territory near the Spink, Abbeyleix, last weekend and 744 farms or herds are now restricted.
As the culling of sheep accelerated to create a sanitised corridor between Meigh, Co Armagh, and Proleek, Co Louth, farmers on the Northern side of the Border objected to the burial of sheep locally, claiming it would destroy tourism amenities.
The Minister also announced that urban visitors from the UK were now being regarded as "low risk".
As Danish vets investigated the first suspect case, Mr Walsh said France now accepted that Irish sheep had not been the cause of the second outbreak of the disease there.
Rachel Donnelly writes
In Britain the mass vaccination of livestock around areas infected with foot-and-mouth is being considered, Agriculture Minister, Mr Nick Brown, said yesterday.
The British government would seek permission from the EU's standing veterinary committee to use vaccine at short notice "if we conclude that it is the right approach".
The number of British cases rose to 673.
The minister said vaccination was "no easy option", but officials were considering it as a firebreak to prevent the spread of the disease.