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The Journal
21-05-2025
- Health
- The Journal
Over 80% of badgers culled in government TB programme found to be free from the disease
OVER 80% OF badgers culled by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine (DAFM) tested negative for TB, The Journal Investigates can reveal. Figures obtained via DAFM post-mortem reports show that of the 10,301 culled badgers submitted for testing in the last five years, 8,211 were found to be clear of mycobacterium bovis – the bacteria that causes bovine tuberculosis (bTB). The healthy badgers were destroyed between 2020 and April 2025 as part of the State's bTB Eradication Programme , currently under immense strain from high cattle rates of the disease across the country. As reported by The Journal Investigates , the TB crisis is having a devastating toll on farming communities across the country. Every year, thousands of badgers are killed or vaccinated after being snared in controversial DAFM traps in a bid to control the livestock spread of the highly infectious disease. Last year alone, a total of 7,319 badgers were culled by DAFM – the highest number recorded in the last 10 years. In total, over 66,000 badgers have been destroyed since 2014 in the controversial culling programme, despite a 2018 government pledge to phase out the killings in favour of vaccination. However, we can reveal that there has been a drop in the number of badgers being vaccinated, and a rise in the number being culled – even in designated DAFM vaccine areas. The Journal / YouTube An investigation by The Journal Investigates can reveal that last year, 23% (1,690) of the badgers culled were destroyed in vaccine areas. These are locations where DAFM's primary method for managing bTB is supposed to be through vaccination, rather than culling. The figure is almost double that of 2023, when 12.5% (777) of the 6,238 badgers killed were destroyed in designated vaccine areas. In comparison, over 3,800 badgers were vaccinated in 2024, a drop from over 5,100 the year previous. Wildlife experts say DAFM now has 'serious questions' to answer over its badger culling programme. Pearse Stokes, rescue coordinator with Kildare Wildlife Rescue, said: 'It's very evident to anybody who looks at these numbers, that it doesn't work. 'So why has it been allowed to continue? It's totally ineffective, killing most of our badgers that are completely innocent and uninfected.' DAFM said its programme 'necessarily incorporates a wildlife strategy' which includes the removal of badgers in response to research 'conducted over many years' by the department. 'Such a requirement arises as tuberculosis is present both in cattle and in badgers and both species share the same environment, and the same strains of TB,' a spokesperson said. Investigations like this don't happen without your support… Impactful investigative reporting is powered by people like you. Support The Journal Investigates Dogs and foxes snared in department traps In Ireland, badgers are legally culled under the same legislation which protects them from persecution. Under the Wildlife Act 1976 , it is a criminal offence to intentionally kill or injure a badger, or to interfere with or destroy its sett. In 2003, the Act was amended to allow DAFM to use 'stopped body restraints' to trap the protected species for either culling or vaccination purposes. According to DAFM funded studies , lowering badger densities 'resulted in reduced incidences of bTB' in livestock. However, research surrounding the link between badger spread of the disease remains contested, with other countries rejecting culls in favour of robust biosecurity measures to prevent the spread of TB. Neither Wales nor Scotland cull the protected species, instead managing spread of the disease via badger vaccination, cattle-based measures, including enhanced testing and movement restrictions, as well as wildlife surveillance. Since 2009, Scotland has maintained EU recognised TB-free status, with official government veterinary advice stating that 'wildlife does not currently represent a risk' in terms of spreading the disease to cattle. Across the border, badgers in Northern Ireland are also protected from culling, though an attempt by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) was made to bring in the practice in recent years. In October 2023, the High Court quashed the national cull bid, ruling that DAERA's consultation process was flawed and therefore unlawful. The legal challenge was brought by Wild Justice and the NI Badger Group. Like Ireland, the province has seen a concerning hike in bovine TB with a 22.5% increase in TB reactors – cattle which test TB positive – in the first half of 2024, according to the Ulster Farmers Union. Advertisement Here, DAFM use controversial traps to both vaccinate and cull badgers as part of its TB eradication strategy. These consist of a multi-strand steel wire which incorporates a single swivel, a metal runner, a shackle and ferrule – a type of metal ring – which tightens around an animal to prevent it from escaping. The Journal / YouTube The devices, branded with DAFM information, are placed at setts by department contractors under licences issued by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS). Captured badgers are either shot and destroyed on site, or removed for vaccination. Although designed specifically for badgers, The Journal Investigates has learned that the traps have mistakenly snared thousands of other animals, mostly wildlife. Records obtained under AIE show that between 2014 and 2024, a lamb, two dogs and 4,399 foxes have been trapped in the DAFM devices. Asked if the animals were injured or found dead in the restraints, DAFM confirmed that the trapped foxes were either 'released or euthanised'. 'The euthanised foxes are used as part of our requirement to screen foxes for echinnocicoccus multilocularis, a parasite found in the Northern Hemisphere,' the department said. 'Approx [sic] 400 foxes per year are required for the screening.' The department could not confirm the numbers of foxes either destroyed or released, but did confirm the two dogs survived, while the lamb did not. We also asked how many badgers had been found injured or deceased in these traps. The department confirmed that in the last 10 years, 62 were found dead in the devices, with the numbers climbing year-on-year since 2018. However, wildlife experts have told The Journal Investigates that this number may be higher, as many trapped badgers are discovered by members of the public and wildlife rescuers before DAFM. A vet at Kildare Wildlife Rescue treats an injured badger following rescue. Pearse Stokes Pearse Stokes Panicked calls from public over traps Pearse Stokes, a wildlife first responder, said he regularly rescues seriously injured badgers and other animals from DAFM issued traps. 'We take every animal that comes from the snare into care, because we need to run X-rays and ultrasounds,' said Stokes. The team can find 'that their organs inside are horrifically damaged', he said. 'So even if the skin is not broken, we'll see ruptured bladders and all kinds of things, so they have to come into care, even if they look okay on the outside. 'However, we do respond to cases where the animals do not look okay on the outside, and they have been essentially gutted, sliced open by these snares.' Stokes says some of the badgers rescued from the 'barbaric' government traps have included lactating or pregnant females, raising fears for their young cubs. He describes 'panicked' calls from members of the public who stumble across the trapped animals. 'Sometimes they don't understand what they're seeing,' he told The Journal Investigates . We'll arrive on scene and say, yeah, this is a snare. And they'll kind of be thinking, what are you talking about? What do you mean, a snare? 'They'll be quite scared about what criminal entity potentially put that on their property when, in fact, it is the organisation charged with protecting and conserving our nature issuing licences for people to snare protected animals.' The Journal Investigates asked DAFM about Stokes' concerns. A spokesperson said that the species is protected by both the Berne Convention and national legislation. As such, local populations 'cannot be exterminated' and badger habitats 'cannot be destroyed'. They added: 'Badgers are captured under licence, issued by the National Parks and Wildlife Service of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. 'They are captured using a specifically designed stopped-body restraint approved under Section 34 of the 1976 Wildlife Act and a condition of the licence is that restraints are checked before noon the next day. All restraints are monitored daily.' Other issues encountered by wildlife rescuers is the uncertainty of whether the animals snared have been done so legally. He said: 'We go out and collect a snare, and before we're wondering, is this an official snare, or is it not? Is it accidentally set incorrectly? Is it intentionally set incorrectly? 'So we're then stuck in a situation where, from an animal welfare perspective, it's cut and dry. This animal needs to be helped. 'But from a legal perspective, are we looking at a wildlife crime? Are we looking at a bad or incompetent job, or are we looking at something completely legal?' Farming practices escalating TB spread Stokes recalled one recent, distressing fox rescue in Dublin. The animal had been illegally snared by a third party using a trap, designed similar to those used by DAFM. 'It took 11 days to locate this fox because it had broken the snare and escaped, with the snare around its waist,' he said. 'It had been completely disembowelled, and it had worn the flesh on its leg down to the bone in order to escape.' Sign up The Journal Investigates is dedicated to lifting the lid on how Ireland works. Our newsletter gives you an inside look at how we do this. Sign up here... Sign up .spinner{transform-origin:center;animation:spinner .75s infinite linear}@keyframes spinner{100%{transform:rotate(360deg)}} You are now signed up Incredibly, the animal survived. However, the incident is one of many encountered by wildlife rescuers who say criminals use the guise of legal practices to commit illegality. 'I think the easy answer is to ban these things, just like in Scotland and Wales and soon in England, that's the easy answer,' Stokes said. 'So there is no smoke screen there for illegal activity.' Ireland is one of only two European countries that currently operates a large-scale, government licensed badger cull. The other, England, last year vowed to phase out the practice in favour of vaccination. This was due to scientific research which examined the effectiveness of badger culling as a method to control bTB. This included a 2022 study commissioned by the British government which found no significant impact of badger culling on TB incidence among cattle herds. The Irish government first said it was moving towards vaccine control of bTB in 2018, however culling has continued under special licence since. The latest figures show TB herd incidence in the south of Ireland as 6%, a significant increase from the record low of 3.37% in 2015. As revealed by The Journal Investigates yesterday, Irish farmers are now bearing an almost daily financial and emotional toll of the current bTB crisis. According to figures released by the Agriculture Minister in March, over 41,600 cattle were destroyed following positive bTB tests on Irish farms in 2024. Dr Paddy Sleeman, a researcher in the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences at University College Cork, said research has pointed towards farming practices escalating bovine TB, rather than badgers alone. According to figures from the Central Statistic Office, dairy cow numbers increased by over 350,000 from 2014 to 2024 As reported by The Journal Investigates earlier, dairy cattle are prone to higher TB infection rates to larger herd sizes and the closer air-space proximity of the animals when milking. 'Obviously, removing badgers will lower the rate of transmission, but most transmission, particularly in dairy herds, is from cattle to cattle, not badger to cattle,' he said. 'When I was a kid, herd sizes were around 20 to 40. Today, they are around 300 to 400. 'So, any infectious disease is going to rise if you get a rise in the number of catalysts, both per unit. It's basic epidemiology.' Wildlife first responder Pearse Stokes rescuing a badger tangled in football nets. Pearse Stokes Pearse Stokes Three-quarters of public surveyed against snares Ruairí Ó Leocháin, a wildlife rescuer and primary school teacher, has repeatedly raised concerns about DAFM's use of snares and badger culling programme The Co Athlone man, part of wildlife activist group Stand With Badgers, runs his own wildlife rehabilitation facility and apiary in Westmeath. 'If you look at the Red C poll carried out by Stand With Badgers in 2022, over two thirds of the Irish population want a total ban on snares,' he told The Journal Investigates . It also showed that, which I found surprising, that as you go into the older age demographic, and into the farmers that are over 70, over 80% are anti-snare. 'These are the people who would have most experience of snares.' According to the Red C data, younger men 'are the toughest group to convince on the merits for an outright ban of snares in Ireland' compared to older generations. 'Empathy on this particular proposition seems to increase with age, and suggests the need to look to older people for support and the need to target younger people with further information to convert them,' it said. Earlier, The Journal Investigates revealed how one Kilkenny farmer suffered a TB outbreak on his farm despite being in a DAFM designated vaccine areas – where badgers are vaccinated, rather than culled. Jim Mulhall said he later discovered that no vaccines had been administered in the area for three years. Ó Leocháin said he feels 'sorry for farmers who are led up the garden path' and 'constantly told what to do' in managing the ongoing TB crisis. 'Whereas, what I'm seeing is, the farmers do not believe that the current bovine tuberculosis eradication policy is working. 'The numbers have gone through the roof over the last years, and there's no difference.' In a lengthy statement in response to The Journal Investigates , a DAFM spokesperson said that despite the 'crucial' vaccinating of badgers, it is 'still necessary to remove badgers' particularly around farms experiencing a severe TB outbreak. However, DAFM added that culling is 'not sustainable in the long term' due to its 'ultimate impact on badger ecology' and Ireland's commitments under the Bern convention. This protects Europe's wild species and habitats. 'Consequently, badger vaccination is also 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 show that vaccination is no less effective than culling.' The Journal Investigates Reporter: Patricia Devlin • Editor: Maria Delaney • Video Editor: Nicky Ryan • Social Media: Cliodhna Travers • Main Image Design: Lorcan O'Reilly Investigations like this don't happen without your support... Impactful investigative reporting is powered by people like you. Over 5,000 readers have already supported our mission with a monthly or one-off payment. Join them here: Support The Journal
Agriland
22-04-2025
- Business
- Agriland
Over 3,000 TAMS tranche 5 applications approved
The Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine (DAFM) has confirmed that over 3,000 applications made by farmers under tranche 5 of the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Schemes (TAMS) have been approved. The scheme, which is divided across a range of measures, provides grants to farmers to build and/or improve a specified range of farm buildings and equipment on their holding. The department said that 3,108 (53%) out of the 5,823 applications submitted for this tranche have now been given the green light. There are a further 2,438 applications still 'in progress', 206 have been rejected and 71 withdrawn from the scheme. The following table provides the latest update on tranche 5 applications for the 10 schemes contained in TAMS 3: TAMS 3 scheme Applications Rejected Withdrawn In progress Approved Animal Welfare Nutrient Storage Scheme 1,409 41 26 711 631 Dairy Equipment Scheme 115 4 1 73 37 Farm Safety Capital Investment Scheme 2,112 100 17 740 1,255 Low Emission Slurry Spreading 516 2 5 78 431 Organic Capital Investment Scheme 359 10 3 116 230 Pig & Poultry Investment Scheme 32 1 1 27 3 Solar Capital Investment Scheme 513 7 4 449 53 Tillage Capital Investment Scheme 203 10 5 44 144 Women Farmer Capital Investment Scheme 225 14 1 121 89 Young Farmer Capital Investment Scheme 339 17 8 159 155 Total 5,823 206 71 2,438 3,108 TAMS 3 tranche 5 applications. Source: DAFM Meanwhile, 268 applications made under tranche 4 are still being processed by DAFM officials. 5,164 out of 5,864 applications made under that tranche have been approved. There are 35 applications still outstanding in tranche 3. The department noted that 3,395 of the 3,799 tranche 3 applications have been approved. The department previously confirmed that 4,931 farmers made applications under tranche 6. No update has yet been provided on the status of these applications. DAFM is currently accepting applications from farmers under Tranche 7 of the scheme. The closing date is on June 6, 2025. TAMS The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) previously confirmed that over half of the applications made for the 'mini-tranche' of the TAMS were for generators. In March, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon announced the three-week tranche in response to the unprecedented damage caused to the agriculture sector by Storm Éowyn. A total of 1,945 applications were submitted to the department by the deadline of March 28. The data from the department shows 1,217 applications submitted were for generators, 363 for wood and biomass chippers, 247 for sheep fencing, 224 for bovine fencing, 184 for mulchers and 52 for equine fencing. Galway was the county with highest number of applications at 341, followed by Mayo (218), Donegal (208), Cavan (142) and Clare (131). 'Applications are currently undergoing initial administrative checks, with approvals expected to issue to eligible applicants later this month,' a DAFM spokesperson told Agriland.
BBC News
12-02-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Avian flu: Birds in NI to be kept indoors from Monday
All kept birds and poultry must stay indoors from Monday to mitigate against the potential spread of avian flu, the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera) has of pet birds, commercial flocks, backyard and hobby flocks will have to keep birds indoors or otherwise separate from wild legal order also includes a ban on certain bird Minister Andrew Muir said that a similar order will be implemented in the Republic of Ireland by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine (DAFM) from the same time of 00:01 on Monday 17 February as well. The move by the Stormont minister is part of the Avian Influenza Prevention Zone (AIPZ) in Northern Ireland, which was introduced on 18 January this Muir said the move on both sides of the Irish border will help to ensure industry across both jurisdictions are "protected as much as possible" and said the orders will "help mitigate against any incursion of avian influenza [HPAI]" in both jurisdictions."I am grateful for the efforts of industry, and so far, this year we have not had a HPAI incursion in any NI poultry premises," he said."However, following preliminary confirmation of HPAI HFN1 in captive birds at a nature reserve outside Magherafelt, and wild bird cases identified across NI, the action announced today seeks to further protect our national flock."Northern Ireland relies heavily on the agri-food industry as a source of employment... it is vital that we do all we can to support industry efforts to keep HPAI out." Speaking following the announcement on Wednesday, Northern Ireland's chief veterinary officer, Dr Robert Huey, said it was vital bird owners take the measures seriously."I am urging all flock keepers to please take action now to improve bio-security so as to reduce the risk of transmission of avian influenza to poultry or other captive birds," he said."Anyone who keeps birds and poultry, not just those in the commercial sector, will now have a legal obligation to adhere to the housing order requirements, which are there to protect your flock. "If avian influenza were to enter our NI commercial flock, it would have a significant and devastating impact on our poultry industry, international trade, and the wider economy."Dr Huey said it is expected that this order will be in place for "up to eight weeks" and "will be kept under regular and close review by the department".
