Michelle Mulherin (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for my absence but I had to attend a vote in the Seanad. I hope I do not repeat questions that have already been asked.

On a lighter note, Mr. Sheahan said he hoped that TB would be eradicated by 2030. That comments strikes me as a positive one. I am a member of the climate action committee, as are a number of my colleagues, and we would love to be able to say the same thing about the climate change targets.

There is a map of Ireland on the last page of the statement, called figure 3, which shows that County Monaghan and the surrounding areas are a hotspot or red spot for the incidence of TB. It was stated that the issue had worsened in the past few years, thus causing the area to be coloured red on the map. Has the cause been identified? How is the infection being spread? Is the infection passed on by badgers, cattle or whatever?

Cattle rustling is an issue that receives media attention from time to time. Has the Department ever quantified what impact cattle rustling has had on the spread of disease in cattle? Have cases been discovered whereby cattle rustling has resulted in the spread of disease?

On the issue of regimes in other countries, we receive beef from Argentina under a trade agreement and there is a push for more such trade. What are the regimes like in these countries? Let us bear in mind how much we have invested in the eradication of TB and the Department's ambition to completely eradicate it. Has the additional cost of disease control, particularly for TB, been quantified when it comes to beef production?

Aside from comparing jurisdictions, I understand TB is transmitted by airborne particles, animal to animal or human to human.

For how long after a human being has been in contact with an infected herd or animal can the infection survive? I ask in the context of people travelling to farms outside this jurisdiction.

Deputy Penrose made reference to the statement at the end of the presentation that we can eradicate TB by 2030 but to do so will require some decisions that may be difficult for some in the short term. What are those difficult decisions, for whom will they be difficult and at what cost? The vaccination of so many badgers sounds like a very big undertaking. What is the badger population in the country and how much will the vaccination programme cost? What is involved? Is it a question of physically catching all of the badgers? If that is the case, it sounds like an absolutely massive undertaking.