Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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23. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he has considered the implications of research conducted by the Institute for Global Food Security at Queen's University Belfast that interference with badgers may be contributing to maintaining bovine Tuberculosis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34016/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The study referred to by the Deputy related to research into the impact of interference with badger setts and the relative roles of badgers and cattle in the transmission of Bovine Tuberculosis, using data solely related to Northern Ireland. The findings, therefore, can only be applied to the situation in Northern Ireland. In Northern Ireland badger populations are not controlled, even in areas where the historical risk of TB is high. As the Deputy is aware, my Department implements an official badger population control in areas where badgers are implicated in TB breakdowns and, in this respect, the situation here differs from that in Northern Ireland. As I have stated, the study referred to relates to the possibility that TB may be spread by illegal interference with a sett, not by the removal of badgers in a controlled manner as implemented under my Department’s programme. Accordingly, it has no implications for the implementation of this programme. In addition, in Ireland we have no evidence that interference with badger setts may be contributing to maintaining bovine TB. It is the experience of staff in my Department that they very rarely find any evidence of badger sett interference, such as discussed in the research paper to which the Deputy refers. I should also stress that interference with badger setts is illegal and where such instances are found by staff of my Department the details are passed on to officials in the National Parks and Wildlife Service who follow up such reports.

There is very considerable scientific evidence of a link between badgers and cattle in the context of the spread of bovine TB. Research conducted over the years by my 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. It is therefore necessary to eradicate TB in both species. In view of this, the comprehensive TB Eradication Programme as implemented by my Department has incorporated a badger removal and population control policy since 2004.

While the current approach to badger control is cost effective and has contributed significantly to the very significant improvement in the disease situation in recent years, the ultimate objective of my Department is to incorporate badger vaccination into the Irish TB eradication programme. However, this strategy can only be deployed when data are available to ensure that this can be done in an optimally effective and sustainable manner. In view of this, various projects, involving vaccine development and oral-delivery techniques are under way (including a collaboration with the United Kingdom), with a view to developing a viable badger TB vaccine and vaccination strategy.