Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein)
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Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. Tá an cheist atá ardaithe agam, a bhaineann le cúrsaí eitinne, ag déanamh an-imní d'fheirmeoirí ar fud na tíre. Go deimhin, is cúis imní é ar fud an oileáin os rud é nach dtuigeann sé aon teorainn.

I raise an issue which is of great concern to farmers across the Thirty-two Counties and knows no boundaries, that is, TB eradication. I ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Marine, Deputy Simon Coveney, to clarify the levels of TB on a county by county basis, the reason levels are high in County Clare, west Cork and east Wicklow and how active is the Department's wildlife programme in removing TB infected badgers in these areas. It is of huge importance to the farming community that bovine TB be eradicated. I note that the Sinn Féin Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development in the North, Ms Michelle O'Neill, appeared before the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine on 3 July and outlined that the eradication of bovine TB was a top priority for her in her ministry. I am aware that the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Marine is of the same mind. The approach adodpted in the North is to test live badgers, vaccinate and release those which test negative for TB and remove those that prove positive. Therefore, the focus is on removing diseased badgers and protecting those which are not infected.

The reason I raise the issue is that I have been speaking to people in farming circles who are concerned about a possible upsurge in the level of bovine TB across the island. They are concerned at the high levels of TB in County Clare, west Cork and east Wicklow. If the Minister is in a position to provide the figures on a county by county basis, as requested, it will be clear whether their fears are well founded. Perhaps he might outline the Department's wildlife programme to remove infected badgers from these and other areas across the island and if the necessary resources are in place. There is a fear that there may be a shortage of personnel in the areas mentioned and that this is leading to infected badgers not being removed. Is í sin an cheist atá mé ag cur ar an Aire Stáit. Tá mé ag súil go mór leis an bhfreagra atá aige dom.

John Perry (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for raising the important issue of the bovine TB eradication programme operated by the Department. I am responding on behalf of the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Simon Coveney.

The bovine TB eradication programme operated by the Department includes a comprehensive range of measures, including the mandatory annual testing of all cattle in the national herd, the early removal of reactors, the payment of compensation for cattle removed as reactors, implementation of a range of supplementary tests such as post-derestriction and contiguous tests, a wildlife programme and the depopulation of infected herds in some cases. These measures which are implemented uniformly across the country have proved to be relatively effective in recent years as evidenced by the significant reduction in disease levels in the past decade. For example, the herd incidence fell from 7.53% in 2000 to 4.18% last year, while reactor numbers in 2011 were, at 18,500, the lowest recorded since the commencement of the programme in the 1950s. Reactor numbers and the herd incidence have continued to fall in 2012.

The herd incidence in each county in 2011 is set out in the following annex. As can be seen from the table, the incidence ranges from a low of 1.88% in County Mayo to a high of 11.10% in east Wicklow. The incidence of the disease is relatively high in west and east Wicklow, where it is significantly higher than the national average. The incidence in counties Clare and Cork is also above the national average but not significantly so. TB is a complex disease and it is often very difficult to explain precisely why its incidence is higher in one part of the country than another. There are several factors at play, including environmental factors, residual infection and, of course, wildlife. It should be noted that the incidence of TB in these counties has been traditionally higher than the national average and the difficulty in eradicating TB from an area in which it has become entrenched may help to explain the continuing high incidence of the disease in these counties.

There has been, however, a substantial improvement in the position in some of the counties referred to by the Senator in the current year compared to 2011. For example, the incidence in east Wicklow has fallen by 35% from 11.10% last year to 7.15% this year. In fact, all of the counties referred to by the Senator have seen a reduction in the incidence of TB this year compared to 2011, although the reduction has not been as significant as in east Wicklow. The Department has devoted additional resources to Wicklow in the past year and is working very closely with the farming organisations and farming community in that county with a view to bringing about a further improvement in the situation there.

The TB eradication programme is scientifically based and the Department continues to monitor and review its effectiveness and efficiency on an ongoing basis in light of experience and research. In this context and having regard to the very significant improvement in the overall TB situation nationally, the Department reviewed the programme last year and concluded that eradication would require us to address all other potential sources of infection, including from neighbouring herds and the movement of high-risk animals, in addition to the emphasis which has been placed on badgers as a source of infection in recent years. There was also a recognition of the necessity that testing be conducted in a timely manner. In light of this, the Department introduced a number of changes to the TB programme earlier this year to prevent the spread of disease from infected herds to clear herds and to tighten up on overdue testing. These changes were made following a series of consultation meetings with farming organisations.

It is important to note that the changes are, first, based on research which points to the increased risks attached to the movement of certain animals and, second, designed to protect clear herds from buying in high-risk animals. For example, the restrictions imposed on the movement of inconclusive reactors is based on research which showed that standard inconclusive reactors which passed the retest and moved out of the herd, subsequent to passing the test, were 12 times more likely to be TB positive at the subsequent test or at slaughter compared with all other animals in the herd. Furthermore, the new controls on the movement of animals out of herds which are identified as contiguous to a herd experiencing an active high-risk TB breakdown are based on research which showed that the risk of such herds disclosing TB is almost three times greater than the risk in the case of herds tested on a round test.

Following representations from the farming sector, the Department has reviewed and made changes to the new arrangements. Herd owners will be contacted prior to restricting their herds under the contiguous testing programme. Herd owners who, for genuine reasons, negotiate a delay of up to one month with the district veterinary office prior to the overdue date will not have any penalties applied. In addition, herd owners who postpone their tests with the permission of the district veterinary office or are contiguous to a high-risk breakdown and are waiting for a test will be permitted to buy in animals for a limited period.

While we are very pleased with the overall improvement in the incidence of TB nationally, the Minister is aware that the position is less satisfactory in some areas. The Department's objective is to eradicate this disease and the measures introduced this year are designed to achieve that objective. The fact that TB is also endemic in the badger population has made matters extremely difficult, but I am satisfied that the Department is dealing with the issue in a very effective manner. That effort is largely responsible for the reduction we have seen in recent years. I am hopeful that we will see further progress in the coming years both nationally and in the counties referred to by the Senator.

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive reply. It is interesting to note that the Border counties have a lower average incidence of TB. Perhaps that is the effect of policy in the Six Counties, or it might be due to entirely different causes. Does the Minister of State accept that TB levels in counties Kilkenny, Meath, Wexford, Wicklow, Waterford, Westmeath and even Dublin are unacceptably high? Will he clarify whether the necessary resources are being put in place to reduce those levels, particularly in Wicklow east and Wicklow west, where the rate is 11.10% and 7.6%, respectively, and to bring the national average down?

John Perry (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Recent changes to the TB eradication scheme recognise that in addition to efforts to control the control the badger population, we must move to address some of the other constraints such as the movement of high-risk animals and animals from high-risk herds. In particular, the changes are designed to ensure herds are tested on time and to reduce the movement opportunities for potentially infected cattle in order to protect clear herds from infection. For these reasons, the enhancement to the TB programme includes tighter controls on overdue tests, restriction of movement of animals from contiguous herds pending tests and restrictions on inconclusive reactors. As I said, the changes were made following a series of consultation meetings at which we took on board the concerns of the farming community. The measures are based on research which demonstrates that there are increased risks attached to the movement of certain animals.

As a result of these changes, there has been a significant reduction in both herd and animal instances of TB. Reactor numbers have fallen from 40,000 ten years ago to 18,500 last year, the lowest incidence since the commencement of the programme in the 1950s. The Department is committed to maintaining its efforts to eradicate TB. There has been a great improvement in Wicklow east and west, but it is a work in progress.