The European Union is turning off its funding tap for Ireland’s bovine TB eradication programme, leaving farmers and the exchequer to foot a €1bn bill by 2030.
Europe’s funding to the programme reduced from some €12.7m in 2014 to €4.3m in 2020 due to a perceived lack of progress towards bovine TB eradication, the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has found. This represents a 66% reduction in EU funding since 2014.
The PAC also highlighted that in its 2021 annual report, the Department of Agriculture indicated that a further penalty is expected to apply regarding the 2022 TB eradication programme, with EU co-funding "to be ceased after 2023".
Bovine TB incidence rates rose at a time when eradication spending went up, says the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee.
The committee, chaired by Sinn Féin TD Brian Stanley and tasked with ensuring public services are run efficiently and achieve value for money, made its comments in a report on Department income and expenditure, published on Tuesday.
Expenditure up
In its review of the Department’s TB eradication programme, the PAC found that expenditure has risen steadily from 2015 to present, up some 18% between 2015 and 2020 alone.
“Total expenditure on the programme amounted to approximately €82m in 2015, rising to €97m in 2020. Meanwhile, the funding mechanism for the programme has altered significantly in the same timeframe.”
In 2015, the EU funded some 12.8% of Ireland’s TB eradication programme budget, while in 2020, the committee found that this had dropped to 5.6%.
Meanwhile, over the same five years, exchequer funding from the State increased from 47.5% to 58.6% of the eradication programme’s total budget. Exchequer funding for the year 2020 was €57m, up 44% on the cost to the State in 2015.
Farmers, through mechanisms such as TB levies, funded some 39.7% of the budget in 2015, while this figure had reduced, to 35.8%, in 2020.
Programme performance
The PAC highlighted that the bovine TB incidence rate increased at a time when eradication spending levels also rose.
“While the herd incidence rate of bovine TB reached a historic low of 3.27% in 2016, the incidence rate rose to 4.37% in 2020. As of the beginning of 2021, Ireland is the EU member state with the highest bovine TB levels.
“The rise in the herd incidence rate of bovine TB is a factor in the consistent reduction in EU co-funding for the bovine TB eradication programme,” the committee said in its report.
The committee said it is “concerned at these trends in the funding and expenditure of the bovine TB eradication programme, particularly as bovine TB eradication would appear to be even further away than it was in 2016, despite a significant increase in funding from the exchequer”.
Rising bill
The Department has projected that €1bn will need to be spent on the TB eradication programme over the years 2021 to 2030, “unless significant reductions in disease can be achieved”.
“At current funding levels, the exchequer would be liable for €586m of the outlay over 10 years, while €358m would be drawn from the farming sector,” the PAC found.
Some €358m will be drawn from the farming sector to fund TB eradication between 2021 and 2030, says the Public Accounts Committee.
Summarising its findings, the committee recommended that the Department provides it with an “update on an annual basis from January 2023 on the progress achieved in eradicating bovine tuberculosis by 2030”.
In their report, the TDs and senators also called for an improvement in the reporting of expenditure on the TB eradication programme by the Department.
‘Wrong direction’
PAC chair Brian Stanley TD said it’s clear that the figures on TB in Ireland are “going in the wrong direction”, as State expenditure is increasing and EU funding is falling.
“The EU is penalising the State for its poor performance. It shows that the scheme isn’t working the way it should be,” he said.
The Sinn Féin TD suggested that the Department has “maybe been a bit lax on this” and said that spending under the TB eradication programme needs more “vigorous monitoring”.
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The European Union is turning off its funding tap for Ireland’s bovine TB eradication programme, leaving farmers and the exchequer to foot a €1bn bill by 2030.
Europe’s funding to the programme reduced from some €12.7m in 2014 to €4.3m in 2020 due to a perceived lack of progress towards bovine TB eradication, the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has found. This represents a 66% reduction in EU funding since 2014.
The PAC also highlighted that in its 2021 annual report, the Department of Agriculture indicated that a further penalty is expected to apply regarding the 2022 TB eradication programme, with EU co-funding "to be ceased after 2023".
Bovine TB incidence rates rose at a time when eradication spending went up, says the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee.
The committee, chaired by Sinn Féin TD Brian Stanley and tasked with ensuring public services are run efficiently and achieve value for money, made its comments in a report on Department income and expenditure, published on Tuesday.
Expenditure up
In its review of the Department’s TB eradication programme, the PAC found that expenditure has risen steadily from 2015 to present, up some 18% between 2015 and 2020 alone.
“Total expenditure on the programme amounted to approximately €82m in 2015, rising to €97m in 2020. Meanwhile, the funding mechanism for the programme has altered significantly in the same timeframe.”
In 2015, the EU funded some 12.8% of Ireland’s TB eradication programme budget, while in 2020, the committee found that this had dropped to 5.6%.
Meanwhile, over the same five years, exchequer funding from the State increased from 47.5% to 58.6% of the eradication programme’s total budget. Exchequer funding for the year 2020 was €57m, up 44% on the cost to the State in 2015.
Farmers, through mechanisms such as TB levies, funded some 39.7% of the budget in 2015, while this figure had reduced, to 35.8%, in 2020.
Programme performance
The PAC highlighted that the bovine TB incidence rate increased at a time when eradication spending levels also rose.
“While the herd incidence rate of bovine TB reached a historic low of 3.27% in 2016, the incidence rate rose to 4.37% in 2020. As of the beginning of 2021, Ireland is the EU member state with the highest bovine TB levels.
“The rise in the herd incidence rate of bovine TB is a factor in the consistent reduction in EU co-funding for the bovine TB eradication programme,” the committee said in its report.
The committee said it is “concerned at these trends in the funding and expenditure of the bovine TB eradication programme, particularly as bovine TB eradication would appear to be even further away than it was in 2016, despite a significant increase in funding from the exchequer”.
Rising bill
The Department has projected that €1bn will need to be spent on the TB eradication programme over the years 2021 to 2030, “unless significant reductions in disease can be achieved”.
“At current funding levels, the exchequer would be liable for €586m of the outlay over 10 years, while €358m would be drawn from the farming sector,” the PAC found.
Some €358m will be drawn from the farming sector to fund TB eradication between 2021 and 2030, says the Public Accounts Committee.
Summarising its findings, the committee recommended that the Department provides it with an “update on an annual basis from January 2023 on the progress achieved in eradicating bovine tuberculosis by 2030”.
In their report, the TDs and senators also called for an improvement in the reporting of expenditure on the TB eradication programme by the Department.
‘Wrong direction’
PAC chair Brian Stanley TD said it’s clear that the figures on TB in Ireland are “going in the wrong direction”, as State expenditure is increasing and EU funding is falling.
“The EU is penalising the State for its poor performance. It shows that the scheme isn’t working the way it should be,” he said.
The Sinn Féin TD suggested that the Department has “maybe been a bit lax on this” and said that spending under the TB eradication programme needs more “vigorous monitoring”.
Read more
TB control ‘not working’ as costs set to hit €1bn over 10 years - TD
No date set for new TB testing rules to apply to all cattle
Farmer levies to help pay for TB plan
Wildlife ‘true cause’ of TB spread, not cattle movements - IFA
Locked up with TB: ‘it takes over your life’
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