A senior Cork IFA official has called on the Department of Agriculture to ease foot-and-mouth restrictions in order to prevent farmers from taking the law into their own hands.
Cork IFA regional development officer Mr Sean Clarke said he was afraid farmers would start to trade illegally because of the huge financial burden they were under.
Mr Clarke said farmers were forced to keep calves in less than ideal facilities. These calves would have been sold to be "finished" under normal circumstances.
"Farmers are feeling very frustrated. We would hope people would abide by the regulations but the longer they continue the more likely it is that people will act illegally.
"Some movement of stock is needed to get the industry back to normal," said Mr Clarke.
A spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture said it was understandable that farmers would be calling for a limited easing of restrictions which would alleviate their difficulties to some degree.
The use of marts as assembly centres for properly identified animals moving under permit for slaughter would begin on April 16th subject to agreement on regulations with the marts. The Department is hoping for the relaxation of the trade ban on April 19th.