Despite intense pressure from the farm organisations, cattle-dealers and agents, the Minister for Agriculture has decided to retain the 30-day retention rule brought in during the foot-and-mouth crisis last year.
Designed to slow down the movement of animals to reduce the risk of spreading disease, the retention rule means farmers and others must keep an animal for 30 days after purchasing it.
In a statement yesterday, Mr Walsh said there was clear evidence the principal trigger for spread of disease was animal movement, particularly repetitive movements through dealers' premises or movement involving multiple source contracts or destinations.
Mr Walsh said those calling for further relaxation or abolition of controls seemed to have forgotten the difficulties the country faced in the past 12 months. Dealers and exporters, he said, had already been given significant exemptions to the 30-day rule and 920 of them had been registered as dealers or agents under EU directives.
Mr Walsh added that he recognised the valuable service dealers provided to farmers but it was essential to regulate the sector for traceability purposes and to protect the disease status of Irish livestock.