The IFA has reacted angrily to a new spending review of the TB eradication programme carried out for the Department of Agriculture.

It takes a simplistic budget-cutting approach, IFA animal health chair Pat Farrell said.

Farmers will now seriously question whether they should continue to contribute €35m per year to a programme which returns only €18m in compensation to affected farmers and has failed to deliver on its objectives, he warned.

“The minister has refused to meet farmers to discuss compensation issues. Irish farmers pay €35m per year in TB testing and levies but in Northern Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales the only contribution farmers make is their labour at testing.”

The Department’s spending review notes that TB programme costs have risen by 10% since 2015, despite progress against TB flatlining. Over half of the increase relates to higher support payments to farmers.

It recommends that the increase in financial supports be re-examined, “as they represent a main driver of the increasing cost of the TB programme”.

Knowledge gap

It suggests there is a knowledge gap among farmers of necessary on-farm measures.

Clearer incentives for farmers to take actions “would to be useful”.

It says that the risk associated with cattle movement could be addressed, including faster removal of reactors.