Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The reason I am asking is that I have never, and I am half a century old, seen as many badgers dead on the roadside as I travel the roads. I do quite a bit of travelling but I am actually quite concerned. The reason is that hitting a badger is like hitting a cement block. It can cause extensive damage and probably a very serious accident. Other animals that do that kind of damage are contained in some shape or form. I appreciate there are animal welfare risks. Primarily, our concern is definitely the eradication of TB. However, if we do not continue with culling and we have an overrun of the badger population, they will pose an extreme road safety risk just like our deer. We have deer in herds in County Wexford in places where we have never seen deer before. I am concerned. I deal with farmers every day of the week with regard to TB. They are not happy that they are getting value for money for their input into the scheme. I am not aiming this at Dr. Fanning. I am saying in general that the consensus is that the scheme is not working to its potential. They have a significant financial input of just short of €400 million if I am not mistaken. Is that correct? Is that over the lifetime of the scheme?