The cost of the TB eradication programme to farmers and taxpayers this year passed the €80m mark before the end of August.

New Department of Agriculture figures show that the State’s spend hit €54.8m by 27 August, by which time the farmer spend on TB testing stood at an estimated €26.2m in additional costs.

The Department figures indicate that vets have received €35.2m in farmer and Department payments for TB testing to date this year, three-quarters of which was paid for directly by farmers. This surpasses the total sum of all farmer compensation payments for TB as only 41c out of every €1 spent on TB – or €33.6m – found its way to the farmers dealing with disease outbreaks.