TB keeps Department secretary general awake at night

Department of Agriculture secretary general Brendan Gleeson has said bovine TB in Ireland keeps him awake at night.

Gleeson, who addressed the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA) annual general meeting (AGM) on Monday, added that there is a perception that TB is only spread by wildlife, when it is actually multi-factorial.

“Not too many things keep me awake at night, but TB does. And wildlife is a factor - it bothers me that people always talk about wildlife, because it’s perceived as someone else’s problem, the wildlife problem.

"The fact is that the routes of transmission for this are very complex.

“The budget for wildlife has doubled since 2019. We’re vaccinating and culling more badgers than ever before. We’re never going to go back to the situation where we are culling badgers everywhere. They’re a protected species and we’re not going to get away with that,” he said.

Revision of TB policy

Responding to further questions from farmers on what can be done to tackle the spread of the disease, Gleeson said a revision of the policy on TB is required.

“All sources of infection have to be carefully watched, that would be something to be considered in the context of a revised policy, which we clearly need,” he added.

The Department secretary general also said a conversation about animal movements has to be had and more needs be done, alongside addressing wildlife factors.

“If all we’re talking about here, elsewhere and in public fora are badgers and deer, we’re not going to solve the problem. We just aren’t.

“We’re going to have to get around the table and have really honest conversations based on the science and figure out what we’re going to be. We have to do something beyond what we are doing now,” he added.

TB was by far the topic farmers brought up most frequently with Gleeson from the floor at the AGM.

One farmer outlined how after 20 years of farming in his own right and never going down with TB, last year he lost 22 cows - accounting for 10% of his herd - to the disease.

Genetics

Into the future, Gleeson said he thinks innovation in genetics, coupled with Ireland’s genotyping programme, will help to breed for TB resistance.

“There might be some new technologies coming down the tracks, I have great hopes for genetic profiling.

“I think it’s something that can be done quickly because we have genotyped so many cattle now around the country, that we can identify animals, and this is the magic thing, that combination of high economic values and high TB resistance,” he said.