Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Is the Minister of State dealing with this Topical Issue in the name of Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan?

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Yes.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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This issue is with regard to bovine viral diarrhoea, BVD, and the Animal Health Ireland programme. There are lots of farmers in the Deputy's constituency.

Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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The Ceann Comhairle would be surprised. It is an animal welfare issue, but I was not aware that nobody from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine would be here to answer this. Was the onus on me to find that out? I thought we would know automatically if the Minister was not available.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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The protocol is the Department responsible should communicate with the Deputy and advise if it was not supplying somebody. The Deputy should be in a position to agree or disagree.

Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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I was not aware, and no disrespect to the Minister of State, Deputy McEntee, who I know comes from a farming background. We will continue.

I am glad to have an opportunity to discuss this issue. It came out of parliamentary questions to the Minister, Deputy Creed.

The questions from me to the Minister, Deputy Creed, came from a number of small farmers who contacted me about this matter of animal welfare. They described this as a deplorable situation, which, if it is not resolved, could threaten the future of small farms in Ireland.

I have been told the national bovine viral diarrhoea, BVD, eradication programme is industry-led and delivered by Animal Health Ireland. It was introduced in 2012 and became compulsory in 2013 through legislation, requiring all animals born on or after 1 January 2013 to be tested for the presence of the BVD virus. If the animals are found to be persistently infected, PI, they can be disposed of. I have the figures for each year from 2014.

What are the problems causing all the concern, as initially it seemed to tick all the boxes? The first question is, in what sense is it industry-led? It would appear that industry in this case does not refer to farmers but rather companies that are getting funding and making money. That should be cleared up. Animal Health Ireland introduced the BVD programme in 2012 as a voluntary process and I understand 10% of Irish farmers participated initially. I might represent Dublin Central but I know the welfare of animals is the top priority of farmers; it is their livelihood. If this was to improve animal welfare, why was it not immediately taken up by many more farmers? It appears, because it was not taken up, that Animal Health Ireland enlisted the help of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, which introduced legislation very quickly to make it compulsory. There is again a question as to what engagement the Department had with farmers on this.

The Minister of State should also comment on what I am told is a naming and shaming system for farm families if a calf tests positive, as all the information is available. There are questions about Animal Health Ireland. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is well-staffed and it might have dealt with this. I believe €2 million was given to the organisation for this programme. It is also a lucrative business for the two pharmaceutical companies that manufacture and sell the BVD vaccination. In February 2018, the Veterinary Ireland Journalpublished an article where Animal Health Ireland and Veterinary Ireland announced a proposal submitted to a rural development programme and a grant of €6 million to keep the BVD and other programmes. It gives the impression that this is for the farmers in the form of an advisory service for vets.

Another reply I received indicated that the control of BVD is vital because the condition compromises the immune response capability of animals and control of BVD will bring overall health benefits to the national herd. Looking at the statistics, there is an impressive reduction in the number of PI animals from 2013. In 2017 the infection rate was 0.1% and to date in 2018, it is 0.04%, suggesting that the eradication programme has been successful in bringing about a major reduction in the number of PI animals being born. The anomaly appears to be with the other aspect of BVD control dealing with overall health benefits. The next statistic indicates there were over 247,000 animal deaths in 2013. This increased the following year, then there was a drop, an increase, a further increase and, in 2017, the number is still over 260,000. In 2011, before the BVD programme, the number was 215,000. Whereas BVD is being eliminated, the other health benefits supposed to come from it are not happening. The data does not capture the causes of animal deaths and in the reply I received, I was told the cost of finding those would be prohibitive. The Department is funding a programme which it argues brings two benefits but only one benefit can be seen. Surely there is a need for a cost-benefit analysis of the money to determine its best use.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I apologise for the Deputy not being informed about who would respond to this matter. If the response does not answer some of the questions asked, I will certainly bring this back to the Minister and relay the concerns to him.

The bovine viral diarrhoea, BVD, eradication programme undertaken by Animal Health Ireland was developed following an extensive consultation exercise. Animal Health Ireland was assisted in the work by the BVD implementation group comprising its own personnel, Veterinary Ireland nominees, farmer representatives and representatives of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. The implementation group was guided by a technical working group of academics and scientists in deciding programme measures. There has been strong input from industry stakeholders, including farmers, since the programme inception, with 91 meetings of the BVD implementation group having taken place.

A voluntary programme was introduced in 2012 and this became compulsory on 1 January 2013. The national compulsory BVD eradication programme came in on 1 January 2013 and from that date it has been a statutory requirement to test all calves and there has been a ban on the sale of calves without a negative result. The Department offers strong support to the BVD eradication programme and provides four Department staff who have manned the BVD helpline since the inception of the compulsory eradication programme in 2013. In addition, Department local offices operate the herd restriction system.

Progress to date under the BVD eradication programme has been excellent, as the Deputy points out, and a very high percentage of herds comply with the requirement to test their calves. The incidence of persistently infected, PI, animals has fallen each year from 0.66 % in 2013, where 13,877 animals tested positive for BVD, to 0.1% in 2017, where 2,390 tested positive. It is a significant drop. The incidence in 2018 has fallen further to 0.05%, where only 901 have tested positive to date. Relative to the position before the programme commenced, it is estimated the reduction in prevalence has generated a net benefit to industry in 2017 alone of €75 million.

One matter that hampered progress in the early years of the eradication programme related to the retention of PI calves. At the request of the BVD implementation group, herds retaining PI animals were restricted and the notification of neighbouring herds in a small number of cases became necessary in order to bring about early disposal of PI animals. Financial supports towards the early removal of persistently infected animals have played an important role in bringing about reduced incidence of the disease. It should be noted that improvements have been made in the BVD financial supports available for animals born in 2017 and 2018, with a significantly higher amount available for early disposal. Financial supports were made available for dairy herds for the first time, including payment in respect of dairy crosses and dairy bulls.

The supports available in 2017 are as follows. For beef herds, a payment of €185 will be available if the animal is removed within 21 days of the first positive or inconclusive test and a payment of €60 is available if the calf is removed between day 22 and 35 of the initial positive or inconclusive test. For dairy herds, a payment of €150 is available if the female dairy and dairy cross calves are removed within 21 days of the first positive or inconclusive test and a payment of €35 is available if the female dairy and dairy cross calves are removed between day 22 and day 25 of the first positive or inconclusive test. A payment of €30 is available towards the cost of disposal of the dairy bull calves within 21 days of the first positive or inconclusive test. Payments in respect of animals born in 2017 are being processed at present, with the bulk of payments made this week.

I thank Animal Health Ireland, the BVD implementation group and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine for the excellent progress made in the eradication of BVD from the Irish herd.

Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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The level of animal deaths, as recorded by the fallen animal agency, has increased by tens of thousands annually since the introduction of the BVD programme in 2012. If Animal Health Ireland is to have any credibility in continuing the programme as it is, the elimination of the virus from animals should see a corresponding reduction in farm deaths rather than the increases borne out in statistics.

We know the BVD virus compromises animal immune response and overall health, weakening the animal's ability to fight infection. Eliminating BVD should see major benefits overall so if these do not come about, one must ask questions about the credibility of Animal Health Ireland. Is it just an example of an unnecessary quango? That is not to mention the lucrative business for pharmaceutical companies providing the vaccine. Are these people getting funding for something that is not really working in the ways it should? It comes back to a cost-benefit analysis and getting factual information from all farmers.

The Minister of State mentioned extensive consultations and alarm bells always ring with me when I hear that phrase. I always wonder how extensive are those extensive consultations. I stress that small farmers were in touch with me about the animal welfare aspect of this matter, so what farmers were consulted? Perhaps there is a need to get some more real facts from those who are most affected.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I note the Deputy's point that the level of animal death has increased since the programme was introduced in 2012. I also note her point as to who was consulted in the extensive consultation process. I will discuss the matters with the Minister, Deputy Creed, and ask him to come back to the Deputy directly.