Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
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607. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views on the cull of badgers to stop the spread of TB (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29859/14]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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My Department’s TB Eradication Programme has incorporated a comprehensive badger removal policy since 2004 in response to research conducted over the years by the Department and others which demonstrated that the eradication of the disease 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. This policy aims to limit the spread of TB infection within badgers and, as a result, their role as a vector of infection to the local cattle population. It is widely recognised among the scientific community that TB is maintained independently in both cattle and badgers that share the same environment and that there is interspecies transmission. This leads to spill back to cattle initiating an outbreak and leading to recurring bovine-to-bovine disease spread within cattle herds.

Under the wildlife strategy operated by my Department, badgers are removed in areas where they are associated with serious TB breakdown in cattle. Capturing is undertaken under licence, issued by the National Parks and Wildlife Service of the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, following an epidemiological investigation carried out by my Department’s Veterinary Inspectorate that has found that badgers are the likely source of infection. Approximately 6,000 badgers are removed annually under the programme. However, the D/AHG licence issued to my Department limits capture to a maximum of 30% of the agriculture land at a national level so as to ensure that the badger population remains viable and not under threat. This limit ensures that Ireland remains in compliance with the Council of Europe’s Berne Convention. The success of this strategy can be seen from the fact that the disease level in badgers is about half of what it had been in 2002.

My Department also invests in extensive research in relation to badger ecology and vaccination programmes. The aim of this research is to replace badger culling with vaccination when research currently being undertaken demonstrates that this is a practicable proposition. However, targeted badger removals will continue in the medium term. In my earlier reply, I drew attention to the progressive and significant improvements in the TB situation in recent years with levels at the lowest since the commencement of the eradication programme in the 1950s. I fully recognise that, despite the progress made, the disease remains a real problem for those, albeit lower numbers of herd owners, affected. The eradication programme also continues to represent a significant cost to the State, notwithstanding the expenditure reductions achieved as result of the lower disease incidence. It is therefore in the interests of all concerned to build on the progress made to work towards eradication of the disease.