Gay Mitchell (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 13: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food her plans to introduce a bovine vaccination programme for tuberculosis; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18772/06]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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There is no TB-vaccine licensed anywhere in the world for use in a food producing animal and therefore there is no possibility of introducing a bovine vaccination programme for TB. Indeed, the position is that vaccine trials in the past demonstrated that vaccination did not prevent disease.

Apart from the foregoing, cattle vaccinated against TB could not be traded because they would be unable to comply with Council Directive 64/432/EEC on animal health problems affecting intra-Community trade in bovine animals and swine. This Directive provides that, prior to export, bovine animals for breeding and production must come from an officially tuberculosis-free herd and, in the case of animals more than six weeks old, must have reacted negatively to an intradermal tuberculin test carried out during the 30 days prior to leaving the herd of origin. Given the difficulties that would arise in distinguishing between real infection and vaccine immunity, vaccinated animals could not be certified as complying with the requirements of the trade Directive and the export of live cattle to other Member States would not be permitted.

I should point out that my Department, in conjunction with a badger vaccine research group based at University College Dublin, is currently seeking to develop a vaccine for badgers, which is not a food producing animal. It is accepted that the availability of such a vaccine is a prerequisite if eradication of tuberculosis from the cattle population is to be achieved. The objective of the project is to secure an orally delivered preparation of BCG vaccine for use in badgers that will result in lower TB levels in that species. With this in mind, a large scale field trial of BCG in badgers is planned to test the efficacy of the vaccine, as testing carried out to date under experimental conditions has shown encouraging results. However, any vaccine will not be available for wider use in the immediate future and the existing strategy will remain in place for some time.

In conclusion, the consensus is that the existing test and slaughter policy is currently the only effective mechanism for dealing with the disease.

The measures in place are effective as evidenced by a significant reduction in the incidence of the disease from 4.2 reactors per thousand in 1998 to 2.9 in 2005. The 2005 TB eradication programme was completed with 97% of the 123,322 cattle herds tested within the twelve-month period. A total of approximately 6.5 million animals were subject to at least one test within twelve months and approximately 9 million animal tests were carried out.