The Department of Agriculture says it is not expecting any bad news from tests carried out on beef products here.

Some 2,500 tests were ordered to be carried out on processed beef products across 27 member states in the wake of the horse meat scandal.

The results of those Europe-wide tests have been delayed until this afternoon. But sources here say that 50 tests carried out in Ireland have all come back negative for horse DNA.

Meanwhile leaks from preliminary tests appear to show that as many as 1-in-8 French samples were tainted by horsemeat.

The results of EU-wide tests for the presence of horse DNA in meat have been delayed until this afternoon. Some 2,500 tests were ordered to be carried out on processed beef products across 27 member states.

Retail giants across Europe were forced to pull numerous ranges of products when the news first emerged of the presence of horse meat in certain beef products in January.