The European Commission is expected to announce EU-wide measures to stop the spread of foot-and-mouth disease across the continent later today.
Here, the Minister for Agriculture Mary Coughlan said disinfectant measures at ports and airports, as well as the ban on British meat, will stay in place until the current crisis is over.
Minister Coughlan said that there has been superb co-operation between the Irish and British officials since the start of the alert.