Pat Casey (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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159. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the progress on the elimination of TB in County Wicklow in view of the high incidence of the disease in the west of the county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22726/18]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Levels of bovine TB have remained disappointingly high in Wicklow when compared with the progress achieved nationally where herd incidence stood at 3.47% at the end of 2017. However the number of reactors and the herd incidence for Wicklow has fallen considerably since 2015, as seen in the following table.

My Department remains of the view that infection from wildlife, in particular badgers, remains a particular issue in the Wicklow area. My Department continues to implement a badger removal programme in Wicklow as it does in other relevant areas. In relation to deer my Department is co-operating with the Department of Culture, Heritage and Gaeltacht to oversee and co-fund a Steering Group to manage a limited deer density reduction programme in the Calary area of Co. Wicklow. The Wicklow Deer Management Group as well as hunting and farming groups in the county are involved and a co-ordinator has been appointed who is currently liaising with landowners and hunters in order to ascertain hunting patterns in the area and collect data. As part of the initiative samples are collected for TB testing by my Department.

Our TB Eradication strategy is achieving results. However we cannot be complacent and we continue to seek methods by which to improve to reach our goal of eradicating TB by 2030. To that end, we are engaging with stakeholders and hope to establish an inclusive TB Forum to involve the whole of industry and society,working collaboratively to identify solutions and eradicate TB within that timescale.