Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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256. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the amount received in disease levies and the expenditure on disease eradication in 2015 to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46022/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Bovine disease levies are collected under the Bovine Disease Levies Acts 1979 and 1996 and contribute to the compensation payable under the disease eradication programmes. The current rates are 0.06 cent per litre of milk processed and €1.27 for each animal slaughtered or exported. The total collected for these levies in 2015 to date is €5.955m.

Total expenditure on disease eradication to date in 2015 has been €27.4m. This represents a 17% reduction from the same period last year, mainly due to the reduction in the incidence of TB and associated savings. From an economic perspective, the very considerable saving both to the national exchequer and to farmers arising from the eradication of Brucellosis and the substantial reduction in TB illustrates the huge benefits which derive from the effective implementation of disease eradication programmes. The progressive and on-going reduction in the incidence of TB eradication holds out the promise of further significant savings for farmers and taxpayers by building on the progress achieved in recent years.