Ms Fionnuala Tyrell:

As everyone else has said, all farmers want TB gone. No farmer wants it visiting their family. We do not like to see our animals, most of which are bred on the farm, and a couple of generations being loaded into a lorry to go off. We then look around and see that nothing is being done about the wildlife population. If the words "culling" and "deer" are put in the same sentence, a certain percentage of the population will rise up to ring Joe Duffy and everybody else they can ring bout the poor Bambi. Bambi is what people think of when they hear the word "deer". I would not wish it on anyone but if one of those people ringing Joe Duffy had a deer coming through a fence and on to the bonnet of their car, they might not be quite as sympathetic.

I think it is about language, but we need to manage the deer numbers. It should be put as "management". There is very little said about badgers. At various times it had been announced that there would be a cull of deer. Farmers are taking on board everything we are asked. It is quite upsetting that these different testing regimes are thrown out there. They are in the Irish Farmers' Journalor whatever. Farmers do not actually know where they stand. They worry what they will do of their policy is to sell their weanlings at a particular date. If they test every year in April, they wonder if they will be in test or if they need to get them in again?

There is a significant problem with testing too regularly on farms. Cattle are not stupid and they cop on very quickly. They will come in once a year, get tested and it is done. I have seen it on my farm where I have had to test more regularly. They know what they are coming into the yard for. It can actually get quite dangerous at times and they do not want to go in.

We are back not only to the stress on farmers but also to a farm safety issue. We are subjecting certain animals to all of this and letting other animals that are a major root cause of the disease get away. We are sacrificing our cattle. This has to be looked at. We are back to who will stand up, take responsibility and make the hard decisions. These deer need to be put in suitable habitats where they have food. I know what happened in west Wicklow over the years in that as forestry was planted high up, the deer lost their natural grazing ground and, like any animal or human, they moved to look for food. They found nice pasture land. This has resulted in a healthier deer herd and less fawn mortality. As a result, the population increased. They have the taste of nice grass and silage - easy pickings. When farmers reach the end of their tether and put up a fence, the deer just move on to the next plot. As their herds increase in size, they move on.