Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Question 465: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if his Department has a cross-departmental working group with the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to research and manage the wildlife issue in the incidence of tuberculosis in farm animals; if a review of the impact of the TB eradication scheme on the incidence of TB in farm animals here has taken place; if ongoing research into the prevention of TB in farm animals or wildlife here is taking place; and the cost of such research by year since the introduction of the scheme. [37590/08]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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Following peer reviewed research studies that demonstrate that the culling of infected badgers leads to a significant reduction in the incidence of TB in the cattle population, it is now recognized that the pre-eminent constraint to eradication of TB in Ireland is the existence of a significant reservoir of infection in wildlife, notably the badger. The published results of, firstly, the East Offaly Project and, later, the Four Area Project carried out in counties Cork, Monaghan, Donegal & Kilkenny demonstrated a significant reduction in TB levels in cattle in the removal area over the five years of the trial, compared with levels in the 5 years prior to the trial. Research has also shown that, where badgers have been captured in areas where seriously infected cattle herds also exist, upwards of 40% of the badgers are culture positive for tuberculosis.

In view of the role played by badgers in the spread of TB, the current Irish eradication programme is built on a twin-track approach to tackling the disease — systematically addressing both bovine-to-bovine spread as well as a badger-to-bovine cycle. The wildlife strategy implemented by Department includes the targeted removal of badgers by my Department under licences issued by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government where they are implicated in serious outbreaks of TB in the cattle herd. While a cross Department working group is not in place, both Departments work together and the two Departments have jointly submitted reports to the Bern Convention (the 1989 Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats) on our badger removal strategy.

Details of specific amounts expended on TB research since the commencement of the Programme in the mid 1950s are not available. However, in the past 5 years, average expenditure on TB research has amounted to €1.8m per annum. On-going research work on the disease is undertaken by my Department in close co-operation with the Centre for Veterinary Epidemiology and Risk Analysis (CEVERA), the Badger vaccine development Group and the Interferon-y Assay laboratory, all of which are located in UCD. My Department has research relationships with research departments in UK, US, Canada and NZ in order to keep up to date with relevant scientific developments internationally. The focus of a large element of research funded by my Department has been to devise a means, primarily through the development of a badger vaccine, to address wildlife involvement in the spread of TB. A significant part of the current research programme also continues to focus on the development of new technological tools for diagnosing the disease in animals.

My Department is now satisfied on the basis of Irish research that BCG administered orally to badgers results in protective effects following experimental infection with M. bovis. The next stage within this overall research programme is to carry out a large-scale field trial and preliminary field survey work for this has already commenced. The aim of the vaccine field trial is to demonstrate protection and estimate efficacy of BCG in a wild badger population by comparing prevalence of tuberculosis in a group vaccinated badgers with a similar group of non-vaccinated badgers. It will be some years, however, before a badger vaccination programme can be incorporated into the bovine disease eradication programme.