Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Regarding the bovine TB eradication programme, there are a number of farmers around me - a couple of clusters - that are in serious trouble, with many animals going down with TB. Compensation schemes, etc., are in place. In fact, on the radio on the way up this morning there was a segment on that matter and a discussion about what we are doing and what we can do. I do not know how many decades the eradication programme has been in place, but the disease has still not been eradicated. Is it time to consider a vaccination programme of some kind? Badgers were vaccinated. I remember scratching my head a number of years ago and wondering why we were vaccinating badgers rather than cattle, which would have made more sense. I know there are technical issues involved in the context of markers and all the rest of it. Is the Department working to come up with an alternative or to reassess the programme, which, by and large, has been a failure for many farmers? People have all kinds of conspiracy theories about gravy trains and everything else. We certainly will not get into that. However, the truth is that farmers find it difficult to see large portions of money from the Department’s finances being allocated in respect of an eradication programme that is not delivering.