Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I apologise to our guests because I was delayed on another issue in the Seanad Chamber. This is an important debate. I should declare I have a vested interest. I am locked up at the moment when it comes to TB so I know more about it than most, unfortunately. The majority of farms in my area have gone down with it in the past eight months. There are between 13 and 20 infected animals in farms. That is the case throughout the townland and probably half the parish. The other half got it last year and we got it this year. That has a considerable impact without a shadow of a doubt. That cannot be taken into consideration. We are in calving season at the moment. Every one of us is locked up. We are all dairy farmers. One can only imagine the situation. It is a significant issue for the farming community. There is hardship. How will farmers cope mentally, physically and financially at this time of year when they are locked up? Being restricted with dairy calves, bull calves in particular, has its own issues. One can manage but it comes at a cost to oneself and one's family. These are issues for us.

I do not believe the programme should be called the national eradication programme. There is a fundamental view that we will never actually beat this disease. We have been fighting TB since my father's time and well before it. The figures have increased dramatically. They have, at times, dipped and then increased. There is an idea that we need to find a way of dealing and working with TB on a long-term basis. We have heard about the 30-year strategy. Dr. Margaret Good attended a previous committee that was under different chairmanship and we were on about a 30-year strategy to get rid of TB. Some of the committee members, including the Chairman, were also members of that committee. We were hesitant to think we could deliver a 30-year strategy that would eradicate the disease. It is obvious, four or five years later, that the 30-year strategy for the eradication of the disease was never going to work on the ground. How we look at the issue needs to be considered.

I will ask our guests' views on a few matters. How do they believe the blood test will be a part of the solution, going forward? Do they believe it is appropriate and used appropriately? Where do they believe it falls as part of the solution when it comes to eradicating TB? On some occasions the blood test is used appropriately but on other occasions it is not used at all. I would like our guests' views regarding it and where they believe we need to be going forward.

The wildlife issue has been declared and spoken about on a continuous basis. There is an issue about how to deal with badgers and deer, and how the Department can work with urban society to deal with those issues. That is an issue for us. The Department pulled out of the vaccination programme in certain areas because of issues arising on Facebook, where pictures of snares were put up. There were scenarios of that kind. We are on the back foot when it comes to those issues. How the Department manages those issues is important and has an impact on us as farmers. When the Department pulls out because of so-called negative publicity, it is an issue. How can we move forward to get everyone onside on this issue? Unfortunately, not everyone is onside regarding this issue.

Money and compensation are also issues, as others have mentioned. The valuations in some of the documents are not related to what is happening in the marketplace. They are totally off-kilter. Mr. Punch made an interesting point about animals going to the factory. One wonders was it the same animal that left the yard. There are significant issues in that regard, which is worth talking about and acknowledging. A farmer might send off a cull cow or a milking cow to a factory and get €212 for it. That farmer might wonder was it a calf he or she sent off. That was happening in some of these situations. We must find out how we can address those situations so everyone can have the opportunity to survive the issue of TB.

Numbers in some places have got bigger. That is an issue in some locations. The numbers in some herds are quite horrendous, particularly on the second test. The first test might be okay but the second test is a blood test. It is a blind spot. One does not know what will come until one gets the report. That is a significant issue that we need to start talking about.

I apologise again for being late to the meeting. Those are my thoughts.