Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I note that the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Martin Heydon, is here. Since this his first Dáil appearance in this role for which I have been present, I would like to say that it is a great privilege to see a constituency colleague appointed as Minister of State. I wish the Deputy every success in his new brief.

Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent)
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I wish to begin by thanking the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this vitally important issue for discussion. I also wish Deputy Heydon well in his new role, which is now more important than ever to rural Ireland and the rural economy.

As the Minister of State is aware, the proposal to implement a new TB herd history risk statement and report system has generated a furious response from farmers throughout the State. I am particularly aware of this reaction in Laois-Offaly and among farming organisations.

The proposal is totally unacceptable. It is my understanding that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine took action on this issue before it was agreed by the TB forum. However, the report was meant to have been agreed by the TB forum before any action was to be taken. There is great frustration and anger over that situation. There is significant concern that the new system has the potential to seriously devalue herds, with no protection afforded to farmers.

In a reply to a parliamentary question I recently tabled on this matter, the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, stated that the reports present TB risk information in a user-friendly, detailed and practical form. He also made the point that the development of herd risk categories that are simple, clear and convey sufficient information enables farmers to make the decisions appropriate to their situation. However, there is nothing simple or clear about how this matter has been handled to date. Rather, there is, as I stated, much frustration. It is not acceptable and I hope this system will be taken off the table. It is only right that that be done.

If there was consensus that this was an appropriate way to handle the TB issue and the whole situation, it would not have generated the level of outright hostility that has ensued. Mr. Pat Farrell, chairman of the IFA animal health committee, stated that the letters are a ridiculous and weak response to the dramatic deterioration in TB levels in herds. Farmers are being told in these letters that if they bring unsold animals back from the mart, they cannot consider the herd to be a closed herd. However, as the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association, ICSA, has pointed out, we have not seen any scientific research to underpin that stipulation. What is worse is that it will be seen as an assault on the mart trade.

It is clear that farmers will continue to bear the disproportionate financial burden for the eradication of TB even though we know that the real area of difficulty in terms of the source of the disease is within the wildlife population, specifically the badger population. I am aware that there are EU provisions such as the habitats directive which protect badgers and other wildlife, but there are derogations to the provisions on species protections which are permitted in circumstances involving the prevention of serious damage to livestock. We need to give these derogations far more serious attention because there is clearly a lack of balance between production of herds and the unwillingness to engage in proportionate levels of badger culling where required. Only this week, I received many reports from my own county of Offaly where there are issues of TB and livestock have been affected.

More ongoing assessments should be carried out by the Department in areas where there is an ongoing problem with TB. There should then be a targeted response and follow-up, which could involve the culling of badgers or deer in these areas.

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this very important issue and for the kind sentiments she expressed at the start of her contribution. I also thank the Ceann Comhairle for his kind words. I look forward to carrying out my duties to the best of my ability.

The issuance of herd test history statements and reports to all cattle herd owners is viewed as just one of several measures that will help herd owners to reduce the risk of bovine TB in their herds. The bovine TB forum interim report identified the need to provide more effective information to farmers to help them to reduce the risk of TB in their herds. It advocated for the development of herd risk categories that can clearly convey sufficient information to enable farmers to make the decisions appropriate to their situation. Against that background, the Department developed individualised reports that provide a simplified TB herd risk category for farmers, with herd-specific advice on how to reduce the risk of TB.

I reassure the Deputy that I completely understand the frustration among the farm organisations that attended the TB forum. I consulted them and discussed the matter with them. The individualised reports are being seen as though they are the panacea to fix everything. They are one part of a much wider approach that will only work in partnership with farmers and farming organisations, my Department and the other bodies that are involved. That is why I welcome the TB forum being reformed. It will meet next week, on 1 October, and the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, will be in attendance. The farmers and my Department can discuss all the key issues we must address. This report is only one part of that.

There is a large and robust body of scientific evidence on bovine TB and this underpins the advice contained in the herd history statement. Furthermore, the content of the statement is consistent with the advice that has been provided by my Department for several years in newsletters, videos, leaflets and other media. Farmers have already been provided with information relating to their TB risk, but the new report presents it in a clearer and more detailed way. Following many successful years of reducing bovine TB levels to the benefit of Irish farmers, there has been a concerning incremental increase in the disease since 2016. This has continued in 2020, with further increases in herd incidence and reactor numbers observed. Herd incidence on a 12-month rolling basis has breached 4% for the first time since 2012 and reactor numbers have exceeded 20,000, the highest number since 2011. These trends highlight the need for urgent action by all stakeholders to manage the risk more effectively across all transmission routes. It is this need for action that is my Department's primary motivation in issuing the herd history statements.

Although the immediate trends are disappointing and worrying, great progress has been made in the past decade. In 2009, 5,860 herds were subject to restrictions, but in 2019 the number was only 4,060. That is a significant reduction which needs to be recognised. I again make the point that it is only by working together that we have been able to make that progress. We can do so again. That is why the meeting of the TB forum next week will be of such importance.

My Department remains committed to reducing TB in Ireland, as demonstrated by the recent sanctioning of an additional 16 officers to assist the TB programme. Attaining TB-free status remains critical from a farm family profitability and sustainability perspective, as well as from a trade perspective at national and international levels. I am acutely conscious that every TB restriction represents a significant challenge to the farm family concerned. It is a deep regret of mine that more than 2,700 herds are currently restricted, which represents a 20% increase on the same time last year. We wish to work with all stakeholders in ensuring that fewer herd owners experience the challenges associated with TB restriction and that we all work purposefully towards the eradication of this disease, thus eliminating this ongoing cost on farmers and the State.

Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive response, but the fact is that there was a blatant lack of consultation or agreement on this issue and the TB forum was undermined. This heavy-handed proposal needs to be taken off the table. The Department was heavy handed in its approach. I welcome the fact that the Minister of State hopes to engage with all stakeholders and accepts that that needs to happen, but the whole problem is that there was not meaningful and proper engagement with stakeholders. Heavy-handed actions were taken. The decision needs to be reversed and we need to go back to the TB forum and put actions in place that are agreeable to everybody and which will not devalue herds or cause more hardship for farming families throughout the State. The proposal has not instilled confidence in farming organisations or farmers and, as such, it should be taken off the table immediately.

The costs of the current eradication programme as provided by the Department are slightly more than €90 million per annum. As I understand it, that does not include the significant labour costs associated with the TB programme for farmers which the IFA estimates amounts to a further €20 million annually. Irish farmers contribute a total of €55 million each year to the TB programme, comprising €27 million in annual TB testing costs, more than €7 million in disease levies, and €20 million in labour when facilitating more than 9 million animal tests per year and implementing the disinfection protocols following a disease outbreak. Despite this massive contribution by farmers - it is always farmers who bear the heaviest burden - there is a clear sense that they are being shafted by the new system. That is why I wish to emphasise that it needs to be taken off the table.

Instead of assisting farmers, it is penalising them and making their lives much more difficult and costly. It also creates significant potential for reputational damage around herd categorisations. I am pleading with the Minister of State to commit to meaningful consultations with farmers and the Rural Independent Group and to stop the roll-out of this system before it does immeasurable harm to farmers at a time when they can least afford it.

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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I need to clarify that, although the Deputy calls it a system and a proposal, it is neither a system nor a proposal. It is information that has been distilled to farmers previously and that now has been distilled in a clearer way, giving very clear identification as to the risk. It is one key element for farmers in decision making. Farmers make decisions every year on what stock they keep and what stock they cull when bringing in new stock and updating their herd. It is important that farmers have clear access to all of that information when they are doing that.

Deputy Nolan talks about the financial burden. The Deputy is dead right. The financial burden is significant on farmers because of TB in general. The best way we can ease that burden is to get the trajectory back in the right direction - unfortunately, in the past couple of years it has been going in the wrong direction - and work towards its eradication by 2030, which is a real determination of the Department, me, the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, and all of the team, as it is of farmers and farm organisations. I believe that is achievable. It will only be achieved by working together. We see the reducing level of support there has been from the EU for this disease control because our trajectory has been going the wrong direction. If we all work together and get the figures going in the right direction, thus making more progress on this, that will benefit everybody financially to the point where we can eradicate this.

I also say, wearing my hat as Minster of State with responsibility for new market development, that the fact we have TB status in this country is an impediment to us in accessing new markets and expanding the markets we have. That is bad for farmers as well. It is bad for the overall industry because it restricts us in that regard.

I was a schoolboy back in the day when we had a reactor at home. Thankfully, it was a long time ago, but I remember the devastation of it. It is awful. That is why we have to work with farmers. It is awful for those in that position.

This letter and this report were just one part of an approach to that. We will work closely with farmers. We want to eradicate this disease and we will only do that by all working together.