Latest test results on burgers are showing no evidence of horse DNA in raw materials sourced here in Ireland.

Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney says that while the results are "encouraging" "no conclusions should be drawn before all results are received and assessed".

The results have now been passed on to Silvercrest which is one of the processing plants involved.

It is carrying out its own investigation and has ceased production.

Minister Coveney said "The investigation is being carried out in a systematic fashion and this requires the correlation of all the information necessary to draw credible conclusions".

More than 130 samples of burgers and ingredients have been taken in the past week and a range of results are currently being received, Mr. Coveney said in a statement.

These results are subject to verification in a different lab and are being correlated with other results.

Results to be sent for confirmation

As part of the process, some 24 preliminary results were received late last night from a lab in Germany and these have been sent to an Irish laboratory for confirmatory quantitative analysis.

The Minister added that his veterinary staff on the ground are carrying out extensive examination of the records held at the plant with a view to identifying, from every sample tested, the list of ingredients utilised in the particular batch of burgers tested.

But he cautioned "I am not prepared to draw any conclusion until I'm fully satisfied that such conclusions are supported by facts".

He also re-emphasised that there is no food safety issue involved, that all of the product in respect of which results are now being compiled are already withdrawn from the market and the plant is not currently in production.

Speaking last week, Mr. Coveney said uncovering this issue shows how thorough industry checks are.