Mr. Hugh Farrell:

The Deputy identified the issue of expenditure. We are spending so much money every year with €50 million on testing and what the Exchequer is taking back out of it. We are looking to put extra funding into that and front-load the testing or maybe do PCR testing. There are so many aspects, including deer, badgers, inconclusive results, and testing, that need to be pulled together. There is not just one thing. Everything that can be done by farmers inside a farm gate has been thrown at us at this stage and a lot more was put to us at the meeting earlier in the week. It was said that things could be compulsory and there was talk of maybe reducing compensation. We are trying to keep businesses going in the country in dairy and beef and everything else but we are not getting the support and support has been withdrawn from us. We have been left out to dry and farmers are up against the wall and under pressure. We never saw this coming. It is at a stage where you would question if there is bullying or what way it is. We cannot take it. There was talk of front-loading that €10 million. That is probably needed more in comparison with the money that is at our disposal. It is about addressing the main issues and taking on board what we are saying on the ground. The wildlife really has to be addressed.

We were talking about funding earlier and spending in the Department. It could be taken from contiguous testing and different things and reducing costs. It is about bringing the funding back to the wildlife and making a wholehearted effort to direct it towards eradication.

We spoke about reducing the badgers and the deer. I meant to say something about badgers earlier. Culling and vaccination were mentioned earlier. We have no testing report on any of those. Therefore we call for every badger to be tested and the results mapped because we do not know what is on any farm or the area around it.

It is time for the Department to say what it is going to do without asking us for any further ideas. We are willing to help with it but unless every badger is tested the same as every animal, we are not working on a level playing field and therefore how can we play the same game?