Up to half a dozen people may be brought before the courts and charged over the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the Republic last year.
The charges are being considered following a Garda investigation into the alleged illegal movement of livestock and the outbreak of the disease at Proleek, Co Louth, last spring.
Garda sources have confirmed that investigation files have been completed on six men, one of whom lives outside the Republic, and sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The recommendation from the investigating gardaí is that these men be charged for a number of different offences.
The investigation into the outbreak in the Cooley peninsula involved both local detectives and members of the Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
Three of the men at the centre of the investigation live in Co Louth, and another lives just north of the Border.
The remainder live elsewhere in the Republic.
The man living in Northern Ireland could face extradition if the DPP decides to prosecute.
The outbreak led to the culling of thousands of presumably healthy livestock and resulted in heartbreak for many farming families.
A number of farmers have spoken off the record about the need for justice to be seen to be done in identifying those alleged "rogues" who were involved in the illegal movement of sheep and cattle across the Border, thereby exposing the Republic's farming community, and economy.