Laboratory testing for the presence of e.coli is carried out in the public health laboratories of the health boards. If verocytotoxin producing e.coli, VTEC, is isolated, confirmatory identification of VTEC is unavailable in Ireland and suspect isolates of VTEC must be sent to the United Kingdom.
In early 1999 the Food Safety Authority of Ireland published its report "The Prevention of e.coli 0157 Infection – A Shared Responsibility". The report provides a framework for the prevention and control of e.coli infection in Ireland. It noted that there is no simple solution to the prevention of VTEC, including e.coli 0157, and highlighted the need to establish a laboratory facility in Ireland to definitively identify strains of VTEC.