The six new cases of BSE found in the national herd last week have brought to 242 the number of cases found so far this year.
There was one six-year-old animal from a Cork herd, four seven-year-old animals were found in herds in Galway, Clare, Sligo and Cavan, and the oldest animal was found in Tipperary.
The Department of Agriculture and Food said that two of the cases had been found in the traditional way on farms and the remaining ones in the active surveillance programme.
The Department said the underlying trend remained positive and the increasing age profile of animals confirmed with the disease indicated the enhanced controls introduced in 1996 and 1997, were proving effective.
Bord Bia's Market Monitor report said the removal of the ban by Russia on six Irish counties because of high levels of BSE, would help exporters seek a greater share of the 400,000 tonne beef market there.
It also reported an improvement in cattle prices this week and said demand for Irish beef had strengthened in Italy and the Netherlands, while demand for Irish beef remained firm in Britain.
It also recorded a 60 per cent increase in live cattle exports from Ireland, especially in the area of young cattle (weanlings) for continental Europe.
It said that, so far this year, there has been a total of 35,523 calves and weanlings exported to the continent, which represented a 175 per cent increase over the same period last year.
Total live cattle exports stood at 67,236 animals and the only area where exports dropped was in trade with Northern Ireland.
It recorded a 6.6 per cent drop in the number of animals slaughtered at beef export plants so far this year. So far, 1,081,651 animals have been slaughtered compared with 1,158,587 this time last year.