Dublin/Brussels - Ireland will not be able to benefit from European Union funds to compensate its farmers caught up by the dioxin scare, officials in Brussels said Tuesday. "As things stand, there is no legal basis for us to pay direct European money for compensation," said Michael Mann, spokesman for the EU's agriculture commissioner.
However, Ireland will be allowed to compensate farmers using its own money with "up to 7,500 euros (9,670 dollars) over a three-year period," without violating the EU's strict rules on state aid, Mann said.
Alternatively, the Irish government could provide a complete refund to farmers who have had to slaughter their animals, but only if it can establish that this has been "an exceptional occurrence," the spokesman said.
The possibility of using EU funds had been raised by the Irish government as a means of helping it deal with what was being described in Dublin as "an economic tragedy."
The Irish pork industry is worth 400 million euros annually, with exports amounting to 250 million euros, and a total of 6,000 jobs are expected to be affected by the scandal, trade unionists say.
Some 2,000 pig processing plant workers have already been laid off as a result of the scare. The plant owners are refusing to open the factories until Dublin gives them a multimillion-euro-compensation package for any losses incurred.
Meanwhile, the European Commission has asked the British government to provide information about its actions following reports that contaminated feed was also delivered to nine pig farms in Northern Ireland.
The EU's executive arm has also required the 12 EU member states that have imported Irish pork and pork products to detain the products to check them for dioxins.
The results of tests on beef from 38 Irish cattle farms where contaminated feed was used may also be available Tuesday, according to Irish media reports.
President of the Irish Farmers Association, Padraig Walshe, told RTE radio that it was a "major worry that the feed could also have been used for beef cattle."
Pork products tainted with dioxins were exported to 21 different countries from Ireland, the Food and Safety Agency of Ireland said.
Food valued at around 125 million euros is being destroyed in Ireland and abroad with an estimated 100,000 pigs being culled.
Britain, the recipient of 40 per cent of Irish pork exports, has recalled all Irish pork products from supermarket shelves as has Northern Ireland, while Japan, Singapore and South Korea have suspended the import and sale of all Irish pork.
No ban has so far been imposed by the European Commission on Irish pork, but EU veterinary officers and experts on food health were monitoring the situation, with meetings to be held later this week.
The recalls followed the discovery in pork of potentially dangerous dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), the source of which has been traced to feed supplied from a County Carlow food recycling plant, 100 kilometres south of Dublin.
Investigations by Irish police, the Department of Agriculture, and the Environmental Protection Agency have found that unlicensed oil was used at the plant to heat feed which was supplied to nine pig farms and 38 beef farms.
It is thought that the fumes caused the contamination, the Irish Examiner newspaper reported Tuesday.
When processing resumes, Irish pork will carry a new label saying it was produced after December 7, and is unaffected by the current product recall.
