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Some 17,266 TB reactors were recorded in the country last year, marking an 11% increase since 2013.
In contrast, the average level of compensation paid to farmers dropped by €63 per animal, from €671 in 2013 to €608 in 2017.
The information was revealed by Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed, in response to a parliamentary question from Sinn Féin deputy Martin Kenny.
“The amount [of compensation] is based on the market value of the animal, ie the price that might reasonably have been obtained for it from a purchaser on the open market, if the animal had not been affected by TB,” Minister Creed stated.
“Each reactor is valued by an independent valuer and the Department pays the difference between this valuation and the salvage value, which the farmer receives directly from the slaughter plant.”
The reactor figure is higher than a preliminary figure released by the Department of Agriculture in January and points to a slowdown in improvements in battling the disease.
Figures from the Central Statistics Office show that almost 9m TB tests were carried out on animals in 2017 and the number of herds locked up increased from the previous year, up to 2,180.
While the reactors per 1,000 tests was down slightly to 1.94 from 2016, the herd incidence had increased to 3.47% in 2017.
North Cork had the highest number of reactors in 2017 with 1,775, while Longford had the lowest with just 73, however, 737,432 animals were tested in north Cork, compared with just 131,474 in Longford.
Earlier this year, Minister Creed announced that in addition to the launch of a badger vaccination programme, the TB Eradication Programme would be reviewed and relaunched in 2018.
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