Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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130. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he is satisfied the current badger management programme is sufficient in light of the reported explosion in badger numbers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36659/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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Bovine TB is a challenging disease to control and eradicate. In recent years, bovine TB (bTB) levels have continued to deteriorate.

Herd incidence has increased from 4.31% in 2022 to 6.04% in 2024, resulting in a 36% increase in the number of herds restricted between 2022 and 2024. As of 22nd June 2025, over a 12 month period we had a herd incidence of 6.43 % with over 43,455 reactors. This disease is having an impact on our farmers and their families both financially and emotionally throughout rural Ireland.

On the issue of wildlife, funding and staffing allocations have increased over the last number of years for the wildlife programme. When comparing wildlife programme expenditure - expenditure for 2024, (€9,171,367) represents a 127% increase compared to a full year in 2019 (€4,040,000). This reflects my Department’s commitment to this particular aspect of the TB eradication programme. It should be further noted that 2024 saw the highest number of badgers culled since the introduction of a wildlife programme as part of the bovine TB programme in the 2000's

Population control of badgers is a key component of the wildlife programme in areas of high disease incidence and where the source of a TB outbreak is attributed to badgers. My Department's wildlife programme uses both vaccination and culling of badgers where appropriate.

I will continue to ensure that the wildlife programme throughout the country is supported into the future. However it would be remiss of me to focus solely on one aspect of disease control. The wildlife programme must also run alongside good biosecurity controls, as well reducing the impact of known high risk bovine animals and residual infection.