Farmers are stressed by the Department of Agriculture TD eradication strategy’s failure to make significant progress in reducing he incidence rates of bovine TB, according to Matt Carthy TD.
Carthy told Dáil Éireann last Tuesday that the TB strategy for 2021-2030 had set out a cost estimate of the programme that amounted to approximately €100m per year or €1bn over the strategy’s expected timespan of 10 years.
Minister McConalogue acknowledged that TB rates had been going the wrong way and that farmers make a “significant contribution” to the eradication programme through testing fees.
“I am very much aware of the acute stress caused by a TB breakdown on a farm, and I am committed to driving down TB rates,” Minister McConalogue said.
A hot topic
Sinn Féin’s Carthy said an upcoming change to TB testing rules is “one of the most hotly discussed topics in marts”.
The rule change will see some cattle over over 36 months of age tested twice in the one year.
“The minister is of course right that farmers are incredibly stressed when there is a TB outbreak on the farm, but they are also stressed by the failure to get on top of this issue,” said Carthy.
“Since 2016, the TB eradication programme has cost around €100m per year. It is estimated that expenditure up to 2030 will amount to a further €1bn.”
Carthy also raised the issue of declining EU contributions to the national TB control effort, which he said sees the Department dipping into national funding allocations to pay for the implementation of its eradication strategy.
“The EU has reduced its contributions to the scheme precisely because it has not been working. Therefore, it is crucial that when we are talking about putting in place punitive measures, we have the evidence that they are going to make a difference,” the Cavan-Monaghan TD went on.
“There have been major costs affecting individual farmers, the sector as a whole and the Minister’s Department in terms of resources.”
TB rates going the ‘wrong direction’
Minister McConalogue told TDs that the Department’s TB strategy was based on scientific advice, saying that farm organisations participate in the TB working group, which recommends policies to the minister.
“TB rates have been going in the wrong direction in the past few years. That is not acceptable,” the minister said.
“Pretty much all the steps taken and discussed by the TB working group are based on the scientific research and advice.
“New tools should enable us to make real progress in this regard. It is important that people work together and that the approach be science-led.”
‘Tough decisions’ needed to eradicate TB