The Minister for Finance has warned that measures in place to prevent the spread of foot-and-mouth disease to the Republic could hit economic growth. He also ruled out any compensation for those involved in businesses such as tourism that have been affected by the crisis.
Speaking in Brussels, where he was attending a meeting of EU finance ministers, Mr McCreevy said the impact on the economy depended on how long the measures remained in place. "It will have a negative effect on Irish economic growth," he said.
The Department of Finance estimates the cost of Garda overtime alone is running at £3.5 million per month. And Mr McCreevy said that if the crisis hit the profits of businesses, the tax yield would be lower. But he said there was no precedent for compensating firms.
"It is not the intention of the Government to have compensation for industries indirectly affected by this," he said.
He warned that the latest outbreaks of the disease in Britain augured badly for an early end to the crisis. But he declined to criticise the British authorities for their failure to impose restrictions on the movement of people similar to those in effect in the Republic.
"I recognise that agriculture is not as important in the UK as it is in Ireland," he said.
Children in the village of Damme, in the German state of Lower Saxony, stayed away from school yesterday as the authorities examined a sheep that showed signs of foot-and-mouth disease.
Although a number of EU member-states have investigated suspect cases, the UK remains the only member to have confirmed cases.
Last Saturday, an EU-wide ban on livestock markets came into force and some member-states have imposed further curbs of their own.
