The Minister for Agriculture is briefing his Cabinet colleagues on the latest developments in the horse meat controversy today.

It comes as Nestle - the world's largest food company - removed beef pasta meals from sale in Italy and Spain after finding horse DNA in 2 products.

It says the contaminated beef came from a supplier in Germany.

It comes as Lidl pulls ready-made meals from the shelves of its Finnish, Danish and Swedish stores after tests confirmed the presence of horsemeat.

It is the first time the Europe-wide scandal of horsemeat sold as beef has hit Finland and Denmark.

'Irish vigilance will continue'

Several Swedish supermarket chains have already pulled lasagne dishes from their shelves.

While the British government said on Sunday it is asking the Food Standards Agency there to check when it first knew about meat contamination.

It follows reports that there were warnings about horsemeat entering the food chain as far back as 2011.

Minister Simon Coveney says Ireland has led the way on this issue and will continue to do so.