Written answers

Thursday, 17 July 2014

Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine

TB Eradication Scheme

Photo of Catherine MurphyCatherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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557. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he has studied the recent paper published in a journal (details supplied) which indicates that culling badgers has little impact on reducing the spread of TB; if he has taken note of the failure of the trail badger cull in the UK and if, in view of this, if he will reconsider seeking contractors for a badger cull this year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32729/14]

Photo of Catherine MurphyCatherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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562. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he has undertaken a cost-benefit analysis of the expense of culling badgers here versus the expense of vaccination, taking account of the reductions in the incidence of TB that the two options achieve; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32807/14]

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 557 and 562 together.

My Department is aware of the report referred to by the Deputy. While this report will be studied further in my Department as part of the ongoing review of the bovine TB eradication scheme, I should point out that this paper has modelled data specific to the British bovine TB eradication programme. It should also be noted that the scale of the TB problem and within-farm dynamics in the cattle industry in the UK are considerably different to the situation here.

As the Deputy is aware, the comprehensive TB Eradication Programme as implemented by my Department has incorporated a badger removal policy since 2004 because TB is present both in cattle and in badgers and it is necessary to eradicate this disease in both species. Research conducted over the years by the Department and others has demonstrated that the eradication of bovine TB 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. I should emphasise that badgers are only removed in areas where an epidemiological investigation carried out by my Department’s Veterinary Inspectorate has found that badgers are the likely source of infection.

My Department believes that the culling of badgers is cost effective and that it has contributed significantly to the very significant improvement in the disease situation in recent years and, in particular, since 2008, during which period the number of reactors has declined by almost 50% from around 30,000 to 15,600 last year. This is a new record low since the commencement of the eradication programme in the 1950s and, for the first time since then, eradication is now a practicable proposition. It is noteworthy that the animal prevalence of TB in Ireland in 2013 was, at 0.26%, roughly half of that in Northern Ireland where badger culling is not practised. The improvement in the TB situation has also resulted in a significant reduction in expenditure on the TB eradication scheme, which has fallen from €55m in 2008 to €30m in 2013. It is also noteworthy that the incidence of TB in badgers has fallen by about 50% since 2002, and this is also contributing to the reduction in the incidence of the disease in cattle.

In regard to badger vaccination, the ultimate objective of my Department is to incorporate badger vaccination into the Irish TB eradication programme when data is available to ensure that it can be incorporated in an optimally effective and sustainable manner. A number of field trials are ongoing in Ireland with this objective in mind, but it is anticipated that it will be a number of years before a viable oral delivery method can be put in place and, therefore, targeted badger removals will continue in the medium term.

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