Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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1288.To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will publish the number of incidences of TB detected nationwide for the years 2014 to 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter.[35527/24]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is a challenging disease to control and eradicate. I am committed to making real progress in controlling TB as I am aware of the financial and emotional trauma associated with a TB breakdown for farmers.

The table below details the number of herds experiencing a new restriction, due to bovine TB, since 1st January each year, by county for the years 2014 to 2023 and the number of reactors related to these restrictions. The number of new restrictions and reactor numbers have been increasing since 2016 and the pace of deterioration has accelerated in recent years.

Nationally as of 1st September 2024, on a 12-month rolling basis, herd incidence increased to 5.52% compared to 4.74% at the same time last year. In the past 12 months 5,607 herds were restricted, compared to 4,872 in the previous 12-month period.

Ireland's bovine TB Eradication Programme is guided by national and international scientific research and advice.

A large body of peer-reviewed research has been conducted into the spread of TB in Ireland and the risks underlying its transmission. This research has found that the principal causes of TB introduction and spread include:

• movement of infected cattle with undetected infection.
• residual infection in cattle previously exposed to TB.
• spread across farm boundaries from infected cattle to uninfected cattle.
• indirect spread through other biosecurity breaches, and/or
• spread from infected wildlife to uninfected cattle.

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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1289.To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he is concerned about the incidences of TB being detected through on-farm tests, but not showing up in post-mortem tests in factories; and if records are kept in relation to these instances; whether such records can be provided for the years 2014 to 2023.[35528/24]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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When cattle are slaughtered as reactors under the TB eradication programme, it is because they have tested positive for infection with TB. It is not routine to culture all TB reactors.

Visual inspection of reactor carcases at post-mortem finds that, on average, in the years from 2014 to 2023 a range of 28-39% of such reactors had visible lesions of tuberculosis, meaning the infection has progressed to a stage where the disease process has caused such significant tissue damage that it can be seen with the naked eye. Lesion % rate 2014 – 2023.

If a reactor does not have visible disease lesions, it does not mean it is not infected; visual inspection cannot detect the presence of microscopic lesions and bacteria within the tissues of such animals.

Separately from the slaughter of TB reactors, all non-TB reactor cattle routinely slaughtered in Ireland are subjected to a post-mortem veterinary inspection which includes surveillance for lesions suspected to be caused by TB. In 2023, 5,265 suspect lesions were identified and of these, 51% are subsequently found by laboratory testing (combination of histological examination and/or culture) to have been caused by TB. The herds from which those animals came are then subjected to follow-up testing to identify any other undetected infected cattle.

My Department has produced leaflets and videos to explain how the tests work and what to expect from them and are available on www.bovinetb.ie.

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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1290.To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he plans to conduct further studies into the source and prevalence of TB in Ireland.[35529/24]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Bovine tuberculosis (TB), caused by infection with Mycobacterium bovis, is a persistent problem in cattle herds in Ireland. The epidemiology of TB is complex and challenging.

There are three main sources of infection for cattle - the purchase of infected cattle, the presence of residual (undetected) infection within cattle herds and from wildlife (badgers predominately). The relative importance of these factors vary from herd to herd and all three need to be addressed to protect livestock and eradicate TB.

As the spread of this disease is multifactorial, it is being fought on many fronts. The TB programme in each county focuses on factors including wildlife, how disease is distributed in the area, contiguous programmes, gamma interferon testing, cleansing and disinfection, testing compliance and swift isolation and removal of reactors. Each TB outbreak is investigated by a veterinary inspector to identify the source of infection. In the case of every outbreak involving two or more standard reactors, there is a veterinary visit to advise the herdowner on how to eliminate infection and measures necessary to help reduce the risk of recurrence. Emphasis is placed on the biosecurity measures a farmer can take to reduce risks on their farm, and when buying in animals.

My Department funds research into all areas of bovine TB including the source and contributing factors to the prevalence of TB in the bovine and wildlife populations in this country. The main body of research work is done by University College Dublin's Centre for Veterinary Epidemiology and Risk Analysis (CVERA) which conducts research for the control and eradication of regulatory animal diseases, which includes the national TB Eradication Programme. On a biennial basis, CVERA publish a report detailing recently published scientific papers which can be found at the following link - www.ucd.ie/cvera/reports/#BiennialReports. This work is undertaken to provide scientific information to inform policy decision-making. All TB scientific research assignments undertaken as part of the TB Eradication Programme are carefully defined and driven by a specific TB-related research question, and the results of such projects are published in international peer-reviewed journals.

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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1291.To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if tests have been conducted on the efficacy of the TB vaccines currently being administered; if there are plans to change or update the vaccines; and if he will make a statement on the matter.[35530/24]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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TB vaccines are currently being used as part of the wildlife programme of the bovine TB programme. My Department has carried out scientific research on the effectiveness of badger vaccination in a number of locations across Ireland over the years, in collaboration with researchers from University College Dublin.

A field trial in County Kilkenny using the BCG vaccine and a blind placebo demonstrated that vaccination, with an efficacy of 60%, could lower the R value (reproductive ratio) of badger-to-badger TB spread from 1.22 to 0.5. A further trial, termed the Non-Inferiority Trial was subsequently carried out in 7 areas of the country over 7 years, finishing in 2017. As the efficacy of BCG vaccination in reducing the spread of M. bovis between badgers was proven in the original trial, this subsequent trial examined whether vaccinating badgers would keep spread to cattle suppressed. Vaccination was carried out in a large part of a county and was compared to culling badgers (in response to TB breakdowns) in another similarly sized part of the counties. This provided a favourable outcome.

Badger vaccination is now an integral part of the Irish TB Eradication Programme. This follows over 15 years of research work using BCG vaccine to prevent tuberculosis infection in badgers, and scientific trials carried out between 2013 and 2017 that show that vaccination is no less effective than culling. Badger vaccination is thus being substituted for continued culling of badgers such that a significant reduction in the numbers of badgers culled can be achieved over the coming years while still maintaining effective control of the risk posed to cattle. The large-scale rollout of badger vaccination commenced in late 2019. Every year more and more of the countryside is designated as vaccination zones. This is reflected in the numbers of badgers captured for vaccination in these zones rising from an initial figure of 1,937 badgers in 2019, to 4,698 badgers in 2020. This figure rose again in 2021 to 6,586 badgers, with a further 7,244 badgers captured for vaccination in 2022. Last year over 9,000 badgers were captured in the vaccination zones. In recent years, there has been a significant increase in funding for the Wildlife Programme.