Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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225. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if compensation is available to farmers who have lost part of their herds through BVD; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24580/13]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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BVD is a viral disease of cattle that is estimated to cost Irish farmers around €102m each year. The provision of funding for compensation in the context of the compulsory phase of the BVD programme must be placed in the context of the economic benefits accruing to farmers arising from the eradication of this disease as well as the scarce budgetary resources available to my Department. Eradication of BVD disease is important to farmers and the strategy of my Department remains one of concentrating its scarce resources in continuing to support Animal Health Ireland financially in its ongoing work in developing the necessary infrastructure to eliminate the occurrence of BVD from the national herd thereby minimising financial losses for farmers and improving animal welfare.