Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It suggests that given the scale of it and the rate at which it is increasing, it will be doubled very soon if we do not sort it. This needs to be treated as an emergency by the Department and by the agriculture sector. This has the potential to spread. It has high levels of contagion and it has been a problem since the 1940s and 1950s. As a child, I remember hearing about TB in the herd at a funeral.

What is the current projection for funding required for the TB programme going forward, considering that increase in the incident rate? In a previous year, it was said that it would take €1 billion over a ten-year period. The aim is to eradicate it by 2030 but we are going in the opposite direction. We have gone from just over 3% to over 5%. What is the level of funding that is needed now and what is the assessment?