Written answers
Tuesday, 1 March 2022
Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Animal Diseases
Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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850. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 761 of 30 November 2021, the financial support that has been provided to the voluntary national Johne's disease control programme in each of the years 2012 to date in tabular form; the specified purpose for which this support is provided; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11409/22]
Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy will be aware, the Johne's Disease Control Programme is managed by Animal Health Ireland (AHI), which is a public-private partnership, with funding provided by industry matched with funding provided by my Department.
Since 2012 the Department of Agriculture Food & Marine has provided financial and other supports to the Johne's Disease Programme, including testing on bulk milk tank samples, Veterinary Risk Assessments and Management Plans (VRAMPS) and Targeted Advisory Service on Animal Health (TASAH). All these measures are to support farmers in identifying and managing the Johne's Disease challenge in their herds.
The below table shows The Department of Agriculture Food and Marines financial supports towards the Johne's Disease Control Programme since 2013 to date. TASAH measures are supported under the Rural development programme.
| DAFM Funding | € |
|---|---|
| 2013 | 200,000 |
| 2014 | 200,000 |
| 2015 | 130,000 |
| 2016 | 130,000 |
| 2017 | 47,898 |
| 2018 | 352,565 |
| 2019 | 367,366 |
| 2020 | 562,600 |
| 2021 | 672,000 |
Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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851. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his Department has a strategy or policy with regard to the eradication of Johne’s disease; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11410/22]
Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I advise the Deputy that a voluntary Irish Johne's Disease Control Programme is led by Animal Health Ireland (AHI) and supported by stakeholders including my Department, representative farming organisations, ICOS, the milk processors and Veterinary Ireland.
The Johne's Disease Implementation Group in AHI takes decisions on the most effective measures to deal with the challenge of Johne's Disease. The Programme provides a suite of effective and on-going disease prevention and containment strategies to control the spread of Johne's Disease in the national herd.
While the programme was initially aimed at dairy herds, now all herds are encouraged to participate in the IJCP. The science of the JD control programme in Ireland has been guided by the Johne's Disease Technical Working Group of AHI and by disease control modelling. The objectives of the programme are addressed through a combination of risk assessment, voluntary assurance and national surveillance. The IJCP enables participating herd owners to have increasing confidence in the absence of infection in their herds and to achieve significant control or elimination, and it underpins the quality of Irish dairy and beef produce in the international marketplace. The programme provides a long-term approach to the control of JD in Ireland.
Johne’s disease is a bacterial disease of cattle, caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculossis (MAP) for which there is no effective treatment. Cattle usually become infected as calves in early life, but this is not detectable until cattle are older.
Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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852. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 758 of 30 November 2021, the counties in which the referenced nine carcases diagnosed with Johne’s disease originated from; the year they were identified; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11411/22]
Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Following interrogation of my Department's Laboratory information management systems, I c an confirm the following are the counties of origin of the nine positive Johne's Disease cases from 2017:P Kilkenny, Clare, Carlow, Roscommon, Wexford, Kildare and Laois.
It should be noted that these were diagnosed as a result of animals being submitted to a DAFM laboratory. As such, these findings are not a true representation of the national Johne's Disease situation and no inferences can be taken as to distribution or prevalence.
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