Aisling Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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265. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his Department will review the compensation ceilings in the TB scheme, as they are not meeting current market values. [55748/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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Bovine TB is an ongoing challenge for Irish farmers. I am acutely aware of the emotional and financial impacts of bovine TB on farmers, their families and rural Ireland.

I secured an increased budget allocation of €85 million for bTB in Budget 2026, providing a total budget of €157 million. I am confident that this increased budget will allow the revamped bTB programme to focus on tackling disease levels.

The objective of the new measures in the Bovine TB Action Plan is to reduce the number of farms affected by bTB and decrease costs for farmers and the taxpayer.

My Department provides a range of financial supports that focus on compensating farmers for both direct and indirect losses incurred as a result of a TB breakdown on the farm. The primary support scheme is the On Farm Market Valuation scheme where animals removed as reactors receive compensation subject to scheme ceilings equivalent to their market value in the event they were not disclosed as TB reactors. In the period up to 31 August 2025, of the 24,724 animals valued under the On Farm Market Valuation scheme, just under 97% of animals were valued below the scheme ceilings.

As part of the work of the TB Forum, a dedicated Financial Working Group was established to review the financial modelling of various elements of the Bovine TB Eradication programme. As a result of the agreement reached in this Group, over the last two years there were rate enhancements to the Income Supplement Scheme, the Hardship Grant and the Depopulation Grant as well as enhanced ceilings for select animals being removed as part of the On Farm Market Valuation Scheme. In addition, the Financial Working Group also expanded the eligibility criteria under the Income Supplement Scheme and Hardship Grant Schemes.

Due to the increased cost of the bTB programme in recent years, the focus at present is on reducing the levels of disease which will reduce the impact of bTB on Irish farm families and reduce the cost of the programme which has risen to over €100 million in 2024.