Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)

The engagement I had on this and all other proposed actions with the stakeholders will feed into the draft proposals to help contribute to a more effective programme that protects farmers and their families from this disease impacting their herds. I will meet the farm organisations again later this week to discuss updated proposals on foot of our discussions. This has been a deliberative process since February and we have been back and forth. I have listened and taken on board many of the points and concerns that the Deputy raised.

I hope to achieve a broad consensus on these proposals but there is an urgency and I intend to move quickly to refine the programme and ensure that the necessary steps are taken to reduce the impact of this disease on farmers and their families because I know how devastating it is. However, I must be clear. The science is very clear: there are three key contributors to the spread and escalation of bovine TB as we have seen in Ireland in recent years. One is wildlife, one is cattle-to-cattle transmission and one is the residual effect in herds that have had a significant breakdown. We must address all three issues in any final solution.

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