Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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221. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will confirm when the results from several badger vaccination trials will be released; if he will cease badger culling in the meantime in view of the fact that €3.4 million was spent on culling 6,939 badgers in 2012 and only 55 less cattle were diagnosed with Bovine TB in comparison to 2011, and in view of the fact that the transmission route is still unknown between badger and cattle; if he will not cease culling, if he will provide a closed season between January and May when badgers cannot be culled as they are breeding and while a detailed survey has not been carried out to clarify present badger populations which may be significantly affected due to years of culling practices; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8873/14]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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My Department invests in extensive research in relation to badger ecology and vaccination programmes with the intention of developing a vaccination programme, with a view to replacing badger culling with vaccination when this is a practicable proposition. In this context, my Department has been collaborating for some years with the Centre for Veterinary Epidemiology and Risk Analysis (CVERA) in UCD and with DEFRA in the United Kingdom on research into a vaccine to control tuberculosis in badgers and to break the link of infection to cattle. Research has demonstrated that oral vaccination of badgers in a captive environment with BCG vaccine generates high levels of protective immunity against bovine TB. Field trials are also being undertaken at present, involving the vaccination of several hundred badgers over 3 to 4 years, with continuous monitoring of the population to assess the impact of the vaccine on the incidence of disease in the vaccinated and non-vaccinated control badger populations. Success in the field trials is designed to eventually lead to implementation of a vaccination strategy as part of the national TB control programme. As it will be some years before full results of the trials will be available, targeted badger removals will continue in the medium term.

Conclusions about the success of badger removal, in terms of bovine TB levels, cannot be reached on the basis of a single year’s results. Rather, trends over a number of years have to be taken into account and it is the case that there has been a very significant improvement in the TB situation in recent years and, in particular, since 2008: the number of reactors has declined by almost 50% from around 30,000 in 2008 to 15,600 last year, which represented a 15 % reduction on 2012 levels. This is a new record low since the commencement of the eradication programme in the 1950s and, for the first time since the programme was introduced in the 1950s, eradication is now a practicable proposition. The improved situation has also resulted in a significant reduction in expenditure on the TB eradication scheme, which has fallen from €55 m in 2008 to €30 m in 2013.

While it is difficult to quantify the precise impact of badger culling on the reduction in the incidence of TB in Ireland over the past 10 years or so, my Department believes that much of the improvement is in fact due to the badger removal programme. In this regard, it is noteworthy that a recent peer-reviewed study, Bovine tuberculosis trends in the UK and the Republic of Ireland, 1995–2010 (Abernethy et al., 2013), published in the Veterinary Record, found that, during the period studied, the animal incidence of TB increased by 380% in England, by 190% in Wales and by 74% in Northern Ireland. On the other hand, the animal incidence in Ireland fell by 32% in the same period (and by a further 20% since the study). Significantly, the removal of badgers is not practised in England, Wales or Northern Ireland.

The badger removal policy was introduced in light of research conducted over the years by the Department and others which demonstrated that the eradication of Bovine TB is not a practicable proposition until the issue of the reservoir of infection in badgers, which is seeding infection into the cattle population, is addressed. Capturing of badgers is not permitted during the months of February and March (the breeding season) in new capture areas. It is not proposed to extend this period to May.

With regard to the badger population, a complaint by the Irish Wildlife Trust that badgers in Ireland were under threat was dismissed by the Standing Committee of the Bern Convention which noted Ireland’s badger population is not being threatened and that badger numbers are being maintained at safe low levels. While estimating wild animal populations is a difficult task, current estimates are that badger numbers in the Republic of Ireland are in the range of 70,000-90,000. In addition, even in those lands where badger populations are being controlled, the local density of badgers is on a par or greater than the norms found on mainland Europe. Furthermore, Department sponsored research in collaboration with Teagasc is being finalised that concludes that badgers in Ireland are abundant everywhere and not under any threat of extinction. This research will be published shortly when it has completed the peer review process.