Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. There are a few figures sticking out in the Estimate. He referred to the one on TB and went into detailed analysis of why it is up. However, for the cost to be up by 40% is a huge figure. We hear a lot about the new TB programme coming out. We are going to have a discussion on it, I think, in two weeks' time. There is much disquiet among farmers about the categorisation of herds, etc. The number of reactors is up significantly enough, but a 40% rise in the cost of the TB programme is alarming. We had a period when we thought we had TB on the run. The number of reactors was down very substantially. That, seemingly, has reversed and done so very significantly.

I welcome the deer forum the Minister set up. Representatives from it are coming in to us in two or three weeks' time and we will see where progress is at regarding a deer cull. From what we are hearing on the grapevine the level of TB in deer is very significant. We do not have any hope of controlling TB in the domestic herd when it is so prevalent in wildlife. Deer are grazing in places they never grazed before and the numbers are forcing them out of their natural habitats into grazing ground. That level of expense for TB is disturbing and there is no point in saying it is not. I hope with the TB forum the Minister has set up, we will start to see reactor figures going the other way. A deer cull is an essential part of it. Is badger vaccination ongoing or has it stopped?