Paraic Brady (Fine Gael)

I raise once again the issue of the cost of bovine TB to the beef and dairy sectors and to general agriculture throughout Ireland. Bovine TB costs Irish farmers in excess of €150 million, according to a new report. I welcome the emergency TB summit meeting which the Minster, Deputy Martin Heydon, has called for. He intends to meet representatives from all the farming organisations to try to resolve this or come to some recognition that the cost of bovine TB to the sector is out of control.

In trying to get this under control, we have introduced a vaccination programme for badgers in recent years that has not worked. Rates of bovine TB have risen in the sector throughout Ireland. At this moment, there are outbreaks in most counties. As I have said before, we are not only blaming the badgers because deer can also carry the disease. We have introduced a programme that has not worked.

I hope that, after tomorrow, we can go back to what has worked in the past. At present, we are asking farmers to put cattle in twice yearly for testing. This is a huge burden when animals have to be transported large distances, put in sheds, tested on Tuesday, the results read on Friday and then let back out to grass during the summer time and the winter time. The cost of this in terms of labour is a massive burden on farmers. I hope the summit meeting tomorrow will realise this. Tomorrow, we hope that answers will be provided for farmers.