A full-scale investigation has been launched by the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, following the discovery yesterday of one tonne of dioxin-contaminated cattle compound.
The Department said that as yet it did not know the source of the material. Dioxins have major public health implications because they can build up in the body if ingested in meat or milk and can cause cancers.
The Department said that while further chemical analysis is being carried out, the Minister had ordered a full-scale investigation into the source of the material.
A Department spokesman refused to name the importing company but the material had not been distributed into the cattle feed industry. The EU's rapid response unit dealing with any potential danger to human health has been informed.
The most recent dioxin scare in the EU brought down the Belgian government which only this week set up a Food Safety Authority similar to Ireland's to protect public health.