Latest news with #bovineTB
Irish Times
26-05-2025
- Health
- Irish Times
Eradication of TB threat to Irish dairy exports `further away than ever`
The chairman of Lakeland Dairies has said Ireland appears 'further away than ever' from eradicating the 'national scourge' of bovine TB, a disease that threatens the viability of exports. Ongoing efforts to stamp the disease out are crucial to securing Ireland's access to European and world markets and, by extension, protecting farm incomes. Earlier this month it was claimed the equivalent of the cost of the national children's hospital has already been committed with an aspirational date for 2030 already set as Government policy for eradication. However, in a letter to Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon , Niall Matthews warned of the deteriorating situation faced by many of the 3,200 farming families supplying the co-op. READ MORE 'The emotional and financial turmoil associated with a TB breakdown in a farmer's herd is incredible,' he said. 'The annual routine of a herd going on test and the reading three days later brings worry, uncertainty and unimaginable stress. Unfortunately, we are seeing a worrying trend develop with TB incidence rates increasing. We appear further away than ever from the ambition of achieving a TB-free status.' [ Bovine TB Q&A: What is it and why is it increasing? Opens in new window ] Mr Matthews was writing to the Minister to invite him to next month's Milk Quality Awards and took the opportunity to raise a number of key issues including the protection of the nitrates derogation and generational renewal in the farming sector, a 'real area of concern'. Bovine TB rates reached a historic low in 2016 but have been rising since . As well as animal health, the eradication programme in Ireland is chiefly concerned with ensuring farmers have the requisite herd health status for access to export markets for both beef and milk. 'We're at a critically low level of housing stock' for buyers and renters Listen | 33:06 In the Dáil this month, Mr Heydon acknowledged that disease levels had continued to deteriorate. Compensation to farmers reached €20 million in the first four months of this year, compared to the same outlay for the entirety of 2020. Sinn Féin agriculture spokesman Martin Kenny said the current estimated cost of the national children's hospital – well over €2 billion – had already been committed in attempts to eliminate the disease, largely without success. The Programme for Government includes a review and update of the National TB 2030 Eradication Strategy in collaboration with farmers and industry. The cost of the current eradication programme has escalated considerably in recent years, with previous official estimates rising to a total expenditure of about €1 billion by 2030.
Irish Times
21-05-2025
- Health
- Irish Times
Equivalent of cost of national children's hospital spent on bovine TB eradication
The equivalent of the cost of the national children's hospital has been spent trying to eradicate bovine TB (tuberculosis) in Ireland and the situation is 'probably worse now' than decades ago, the Dáil has heard. Sinn Féin agriculture spokesman Martin Kenny made the claim that the current estimated cost of the hospital at €2.24 billion had been spent on schemes to eliminate the disease without success. His comments came as Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon confirmed that bovine TB levels 'have continued to deteriorate'. Compensation to farmers affected by TB was €20 million for 2020. It was €20 million for the first four months of this year. READ MORE Mr Heydon said 'herd incidence has increased from 4.31 per cent in 2022 to 6.04 per cent in 2024, resulting in a 36 per cent increase in the number of herds restricted between those two years'. Over 12 months to May 11th this year, 6.3 per cent of herds – approximately 6,000 – were affected with more than 42,200 reactor animals. 'This disease is having an impact on our farmers and their families financially but also emotionally,' Mr Heydon said. 'It is a hugely traumatic time when this hits' as he knew from his constituents 'and I know from lived experience as well'. [ Bovine TB Q&A: What is it and why is incidence of the disease increasing on Irish farms? Opens in new window ] Mr Kenny, TD for Sligo-Leitrim, said there were huge challenges 'with farmers being locked up and not able to sell or trade their animals. The efforts that have been made over the decades have not yielded results'. He asked if the eradication programme should now be called a failure. He said €75 million was spent on eradication in 2023. 'We talk about the price of the children's hospital; you are into that kind of money having been spent on trying to eradicate TB in this country. We are probably worse now than we were many decades ago.' Among the measures now proposed to address the issue is to restrict the sale of cows from herds of more than 60 that had a TB outbreak 'with three or more standards reactors in the previous three years'. But Fine Gael Laois TD Willie Aird said it would be a 'drastic move' to prevent a farmer selling his stock in a mart for up to three years. The Government backbencher said it would have a 'devastating effect' on farmers with 'a stigma attached to farmers like myself'. And there is 'no guarantee that taking a draconian step like this would have any effects'. The Minister said, however, that 'the scale of the challenge at the minute is significant and deteriorating so it cannot be business as usual' and he pointed to the €20 million cost of compensation in the first four months of 2025. 'Everything that is possible is being considered, and everything has been looked at,' Mr Heydon said. He had engaged in a deliberative process with all stakeholders over the past number of months and will meet them again later this week with a revised set of proposals. 'This has been a very deliberative process but I have made the point that this process cannot go on forever, such is the level of incidence.' Mr Kenny pointed to concerns about the spread through deer and badgers but the Minister told him the suggestion that 'wildlife is the only problem is factually incorrect'. 'There are three drivers of this disease among our bovine animals. One is wildlife, one is cattle-to-cattle transmission and the other is residual left where there is a large outbreak in a herd. If we do not tackle all three we will leave a gap in the fence for this to continue to seep through. I cannot let that happen.'
Irish Times
08-05-2025
- Health
- Irish Times
Bovine TB Q&A: What is it and why is incidence of the disease increasing on Irish farms?
What is bovine tuberculosis? Bovine Tuberculosis is a highly infectious disease of cattle caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis). M. bovis can cause disease in other domestic or wild animals and in humans. How is it being contracted? According to the Department of Agriculture , cattle can become infected by breathing air contaminated by infected animals; consuming contaminated food or water; moving infected animals into a previously clear herd; contact with other infected animals, such as across fences or at shared watering points; sharing machinery or facilities between farms; and using dirty lorries to transport animals. How widespread is the disease in Ireland? Bovine TB disease levels in recent years have risen significantly with a recorded herd incidence increase from 4.31 per cent in 2022 to 6.04 per cent in 2024. Between 2022 and 2024, there has been a 36 per cent increase in the number of herds restricted, and according to the Irish Farmers Association (IFA), more than 6,000 farmers have lost more than 40,000 productive animals to the disease over the past 12 months. Addressing an Oireachtas committee in November , senior veterinary inspector with the Department of Agriculture Damien Barrett said that 5,906 herds suffered a TB breakdown in the last 12 months, compared to 4,914 in the same period the year before. A TB breakdown is when a herd loses its officially TB free (OTF) status due to the illness being suspected or confirmed. READ MORE Why is the incidence of bovine TB on Irish farms increasing? Mr Barrett said that data analysis suggests the underlying reasons for the increased incidence are the expansion of dairy farming 'and the resulting increased levels of intensive cattle farming and the increased movement of cattle'. He added that these conditions are associated with heightened susceptibility to disease, whether that is TB or any other infectious disease. What is being done to address the issue? Last week, Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon announced that there would be an emergency meeting on Thursday, May 8th, to discuss a revamp of the TB eradication programme. In a statement in advance of the meeting, the Minister said that 'an increasing number of farm families are facing the emotional and financial hardship of a TB breakdown'. 'Having been on a downward trajectory, disease levels have deteriorated in recent years and reached a point not seen since 2003. The stark reality is that we have reached a crossroads in our efforts to control and ultimately eradicate bovine TB.' Describing the disease as challenging to control and eradicate, Mr Heydon said that 'left unchecked, this disease will impact many more families throughout rural Ireland and the output of our agri-sector particularly in terms of lost production at both farm level and at processor level. 'It is essential that we take decisive action now to reverse the current trends. We cannot allow our farmers or rural economy to suffer by not tackling this disease head on.' He added that although challenging, there is precedent for addressing the issue and it 'can and has been done elsewhere'. The Department of Agriculture is expected to announce a set of new Government proposals following the meeting today. How much is bovine TB costing farmers and the Government? The IFA recently commissioned a report that indicates TB is costing farmers more than €150 million a year, while the Government is spending around €100 million annually in dealing with the disease on farms. In his Oireachtas address last year, Mr Barrett said that costs of running the TB eradication programme had increased from €57 million in 2023 to €74 million as of the end of last month, excluding staff costs. He added that the overall costs were on track to increase further in 2025.
