Robert O'Donoghue (Dublin Fingal West, Labour)
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317. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide an update on the rollout of the badger BCG vaccination programme as part of the national bovine TB eradication strategy; the number of badgers vaccinated in each of the past three years; the number culled over the same period; the geographic areas where vaccination is currently taking place; the expected timeline for vaccination to replace culling as the principal wildlife control measure; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49461/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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Badger vaccination is now a key 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.

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 8,123 in 2024. The number of badgers that have been captured in cull and vaccine areas during the year 2022 to 2024 are set out in the table beneath;

The current bovine TB eradication strategy includes a combination of badger culling and vaccination, the intention is to gradually reduce badger culling per annum in tandem with the badger vaccination, however badger vaccination alone would not be deployed in areas with a high incidence of Bovine TB.

On 9th September I published the “Bovine TB Action Plan, Addressing Bovine TB in Ireland” There are 5 measures in the Plan which are underpinned by 30 actions:

1. Support herds free of bTB to remain free
2. Reduce the impact of wildlife on the spread of bTB
3. Detect and eliminate bTB infection as early as possible in herds with a bTB breakdown and avoid a future breakdown
4. Help farmers improve all areas of on-farm biosecurity
5. Reduce the impact of known high-risk animals in spreading bTB