The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon said that bird flu is a highly dynamic disease, and that the country is moving into the high risk period with migratory birds.
The Department of Agriculture has announced a housing order to eliminate bird flu that comes into effect next Monday.
The first case of highly pathogenic avian influenza was confirmed on Tuesday in a commercial turkey flock in Co. Carlow.
A second case was confirmed in a turkey flock on a premises near Kells, Co. Meath yesterday.
There have also been confirmed cases in Northern Ireland, including on a premises in Lisanskea.
Minister Heydon's housing order means that free-range farmers need to keep birds indoors and restrict the animals' movements.
The announcement was made in collaboration with Northern Ireland's Department of Agriculture.
However, the north's order came into effect last night.
Speaking on the Joe Finnegan Show this morning, Minister Heydon said that the delay was too give larger commercial flock owners time to house their birds.
He said: "Any commercial flock owner, and many of them are in the Cavan-Monaghan area, will be aware that mandatory biosecurity measures are the single biggest tool we have to keeping this out.
"I have announced a housing order that will become effective in law from next Monday. I have worked closely with Minister Muir in Northern Ireland, and we have announced our housing orders together.
"There is a reason that my housing order doesn't become law until next Monday because, any commercial owner here doesn't want to get this, and they will house if they have the ability to house.
"If your housing is not available, not ready, or needs to be cleaned out, you may need a couple of days to have them in. If I had made that available from today, I would have put some people whose houses are not ready on the wrong side of the law," Minister Heydon added.
