This week in the Republic of Ireland, beef consumption made a recovery despite the BSE crisis which is raging on mainland

Europe. In Britain, beef and veal consumption soared to almost one million tonnes, its highest level in 15 years.

In marts and factories, buyers were seeking out market-ready animals of under 30 months and paying prices for quality animals which were only slightly down on this time last year.

Although last month's BSE figures were the highest on record, this upturn had been predicted as more intense surveillance on the national herd, including the testing of animals which died on farms and so called casualty animals, came into play.

The most important element of the figures was that none of the animals which were found to be diseased was under four years of age. This is a crucial time factor in the fight to eradicate BSE.

1996 is a very important year in the 15year history of BSE which was first identified in Britain in 1985. Scientists quickly realised it was spreading and had probably been caused by feeding contaminated meat-and-bonemeal to cows.

Strict controls were put in place both in Britain and later on an EU-wide basis banning meat-and-bonemeal from cattle feed. Other controls, such as the removal of vital internal organs which harbour the disease, were also put in place.

But it was only in 1996 that scientists realised that contamination of cattle feed was continuing at mills and compounding plants because operators were using the same rollers to make up different feeds. One gramme of infected meat-and-bonemeal is sufficient to cause the disease in cattle.

Ireland found it had a similar problem, and it was only then that the final segregation of feed plants took place. Since then, only dedicated mills can manufacture cattle feed.

If Ireland can achieve anything like the reduction in cases which has happened in Britain, it is reasonable to assume that in the next five years the State could claim to be almost free of the disease.

For instance, in 1989, the year the first case of BSE was identified in Ireland, Britain recorded 7,166 cases. The number went up to 14,294 in 1990, rose again to 25,202 in 1991 and peaked at 37,056 in 1992.

The following year it dropped to 34,829 and was down to 14,475 in 1995. In 1996 when it was discovered there was cross-contamination at the British feeding mills, the figure dropped to 8,090.

The following year the level of cases dropped by almost 50 per cent to 4,335, fell again in 1998 to 3,197 and last year Britain recorded 2,280 cases of the disease.

The latest figures available from Britain show that it had just over 1,000 cases to the beginning of November this year, a major achievement.

ACCORDING to Dr Patrick Wall of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, this current crisis presents the Irish beef industry with a unique opportunity to rid itself of BSE for good. The proposals put forward by the Commission suggest that every animal over 30 months which is destined for the food chain should be slaughtered for destruction if it fails a test for BSE.

Earlier this week he said we should use this scheme as an opportunity to cull older cows as their working lives end. The reason is that cases of BSE are most likely to be found at this stage.

The figures on the age profile of BSE victims for the last three years show that the level of the disease in cows under five years has fallen by 10 percentage points annually.

Dr Wall questions the wisdom of slaughtering healthy animals of 30 months, because if they have not been exposed to contaminated meat-and-bonemeal, they should be free of the disease.

"When this scheme is being put in place Ireland should go for a cull of the older animals instead of wasting millions of taxpayers' money in slaughtering healthy animals when one-third of the world is starving," he said.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development estimates that there are over 750,000 animals in the Irish herd of 7.5 million animals aged over 30 months which would normally be going into the food chain annually.

Of these, 400,000 are cows which would be the target group spoken of by Dr Wall and, should his suggestion be taken on board, the level of slaughter for destruction would be at least manageable.

In the meantime, more focused testing for the disease, especially at knackeries and on farms where there are sick and injured animals, is bringing forward more cases here and elsewhere.

That has been the experience in both Portugal and Switzerland where such a system was put in place nearly two years ago. Switzerland has 364 cases of the disease, and Portugal 479 to the beginning of November.

In Switzerland, the number of cases brought forward by the more intense level of what they called "aggressive testing" (that is, going out into the farms seeking cases) increased the annual rate of infection by 30 per cent.

It has been suggested rather unkindly that the reason for the current BSE crisis is that continental countries such as Germany, France and Spain are now declaring all their cases of BSE because EU inspections would have revealed them.

Whatever the case, the hysteria created in Europe has badly damaged beef consumption and created a serious marketing problem for Ireland which has to export nine out of 10 animals it produces.

Our marketeers, however, have shown in the past their ability to sell Irish beef, and we remain the most successful country at doing so despite the fact that since 1989 we have been unable to claim we have a BSE-free herd.