The massive scale of illegal smuggling of sheep into the Republic of Ireland from Britain through the North prior to the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak has been quantified in a report prepared for the Northern Ireland authorities, the IFA claimed last night.
The PricewaterhouseCoopers report found that 35,000 lambs shipped to Northern Ireland in 2000 and to February 2001, allegedly for slaughter in Northern Ireland plants, "could not be accounted for".
Sheep illegally taken into the North for slaughter ended up in the Republic, and were directly responsible for the spread of the disease from Britain to Northern Ireland and into the Republic.
The report was critical "of the inadequate controls that permitted the illegal importation of sheep on a massive scale" into the North which were to have been slaughtered but were not.
It said abuses of the "direct for slaughter" sheep imports into Northern Ireland "facilitated illegal smuggling of sheep into the Republic of Ireland".
The Irish Farmers' Association president, Mr John Dillon, said the figure of 35,000 unaccounted for lamb imports into the North confirmed the problem of illegal lamb imports between Great Britain, Northern Ireland and the Republic, revealed by the IFA in 1999/2000.
The Department of Agriculture in Dublin would not comment on the smuggling activities at the time when contacted last night. However, a statement from the Minister, Mr Walsh, said the report would contribute to developing improved policies for preventing any further outbreaks.