Dáil debates
Thursday, 9 July 2026
Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions
Agriculture Schemes
2:55 am
Joe Cooney (Clare, Fine Gael)
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8. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his plans to review the valuation ceilings applied to reactors under the bovine TB eradication scheme, to ensure farmers are compensated for the full market value for animals removed as reactors; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52213/26]
Joe Cooney (Clare, Fine Gael)
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The scheme designed to compensate farmers for animals lost to TB is simply not fit for purpose. The market value caps are totally out of step with the real world and farmers are being left thousands of euro out of profit. The Minister has publicly stated that he is monitoring and reviewing these caps. A review without an end date provides farmers with no commitment. When will the review be completed? Can we expect the caps to be increased?
Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. We have discussed the bovine TB plan a lot in this House, this year and last year, because bovine TB is an ongoing challenge, as the Deputy is aware, for farmers in Clare and all over the country. I am acutely aware of the emotional and financial impacts bovine TB has on farmers, their families and rural Ireland. That is why I am absolutely determined to drive down the number of farm families affected by this and who have to experience the awful trauma of having a reactor and a locked up herd.
I secured an increased budget allocation of €85 million for bovine TB in budget 2026, providing a total budget of €157 million for this year. I am confident that this increased budget will allow the revamped bovine TB programme to focus on tackling disease levels through the implementation of the measures laid out in the new bovine TB action plan. It will support and enable farm families who are currently dealing with the stress of a TB outbreak to navigate a way out of a TB restriction and protect herds that are currently free from TB from the stress of a TB outbreak in the future. The objective of the new measures in the bovine TB action plan is to reduce the number of farms affected by bovine TB and decrease costs for farmers and the taxpayer.
My Department provides a range of financial supports that focus on compensating farmers for direct and indirect losses incurred as a result of a TB breakdown on the farm. The primary support scheme is the on farm market valuation scheme under which animals removed as reactors receive compensation subject to scheme ceilings equivalent to their market value in the event they had not been disclosed as TB reactors. To the end of May 2026, of the 11,476 animals valued under the on farm market valuation scheme, just over 85% of animals were valued below the scheme ceilings.
Joe Cooney (Clare, Fine Gael)
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The Minister said that budget 2026 money is tied to reducing disease and I commend him on that. It is having a positive effect. Reactor numbers are down significantly year on year to June and the herd incidence rate is also down. That is welcome. However, this disease reduction policy does absolutely nothing for farmers who have animals who are reactors. The Minister can clearly accept there is a problem with the scheme. The farmers I represent are already carrying a heavy burden. Asking them to accept compensation based on valuations that are years out of date is neither fair nor sustainable. Engagement with farmers and organisations is fine but the talking must stop and a decision must be made. Farmers now need clarity and something concrete they can take to the bank, not an endless review.
Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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In addition to the compensation package for eligible reactor animals that are removed during a TB breakdown, my Department operates three supplementary schemes that assist farmers with the indirect losses incurred as a result of a TB breakdown on their farm. They are the income supplement scheme, depopulation grant scheme and hardship grant scheme. As part of the work of the TB forum, a dedicated financial working group was established to review the financial modelling of various elements of the bovine TB eradication programme. As a result of the agreement reached in this group, over the past two years, there were rate enhancements to the income supplement scheme, the hardship grant and the depopulation grant, as well as enhanced ceilings for select animals being removed as part of the on farm market valuation scheme.
Seeing a reduction in numbers in the past year is positive. It has been directly linked to our open discussions about risk categorisation of animals and buyers being more aware of that. We know we will see an increase in bovine TB levels so we cannot be complacent. The focus at present is on reducing the levels of disease, which will reduce the very significant impact of bovine TB on Irish farm families, and also reduce the overall cost of the programme.
Joe Cooney (Clare, Fine Gael)
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I compliment the Minister on the great work he is doing. With respect, farmers battling with this disease cannot live on engagement or reviews with no end date. Every month this drags on, more and more reactors are being removed at values set three years ago, while cattle prices continue to climb, which is good. The scheme also has a significant negative impact on farmers who are producing the best animals. I ask the Minister to consider a modest allocation from his existing budget now to increase the cap to demonstrate to farmers that he has been listening to them; and for a commitment that he will seek a special allocation for compensation from Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, reform in budget 2027. Farmers are entitled to that. Fairness delayed is fairness denied. I ask him to back farmers with action for these people who work hard to make a living.
Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for articulating the points as clearly as he did and with passion.
I understand the points the Deputy is making but as a senior Cabinet Minister, I also need to have full cognisance of the overall cost of the TB programme. Farmers may think that putting €157 million into a TB programme does not impinge on my ability to spend in other areas of the Department where the Ministers of State, Deputies Dooley, Collins and Grealish, would like to spend, but that is not borne out in reality. In 2019, just seven short years ago, the entire cost to our Department was €37.5 million. It is now €157 million because of the scale of the challenge we are focused on. I came to last year's budget negotiations with a new plan and a very bold approach that I had spent the summer negotiating. In those negotiations, a clear and explicit determination was given to me, which was that this money was to be used to drive down the incidence of the disease. I understand the points the Deputy is making. We will now be having new budget negotiations. Engagement with officials in the Department of public expenditure will involve a detailed analysis of the trajectory of the disease, where the money is going and the impact it is having. I will also be making the points the Deputy has raised regarding compensation levels.