Minister of Agriculture, Food, and the Marine, Martin Heydon has said that he is committed to reducing bovine tuberculosis (TB) incidence rates across the country.

"Recent years has unfortunately seen a deterioration in the incidence of this disease, however all stakeholders and I are working collaboratively to ensure that we all ensure all steps necessary to control this disease are taken.

"We must keep this going with the ultimate aim of eradicating TB from the herd," he said.

As of November 17, 5,996 herds have suffered a TB breakdown in the last twelve months in comparison to 4,979 herds in the same period last year.

There has also been a substantial increase in the number of reactors with 40,044 being disclosed in the last twelve months in comparison to 27,505 in the previous twelve months, an increase of 12,539 or almost 46%.

The minister was responding to a parliamentary question from Fianna Fáil TD Eamon Scanlon who asked what supports were in place for farmers whose herds are locked up due to TB.

Minister Heydon said that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has provided range of financial supports to compensate farmers for both direct and indirect losses incurred as a result of a TB breakdown on the farm.

He said that the On Farm Market Valuation Scheme is the principal compensation measure available to herd-owners whose herds are affected by a bovine TB breakdown.

The scheme aims to compensate farmers up to the open market value of an animal as if they were not affected by disease, subject to ceilings.

In addition to the compensation package for eligible reactor animals that are removed during a TB breakdown, DAFM operates three supplementary schemes that assist farmers with the indirect losses incurred as a result of a TB breakdown on their farm.

The hardship grant is a targeted scheme aimed at assisting eligible herd-owners who retain and feed animals during prolonged periods of restriction as a result of a TB breakdown and that have more animals than the same period in the previous year. 

The scheme runs each year for herds restricted between November 1 and April 30.

The depopulation grant is paid for each animal removed in the depopulation measure and for those herds that are partial or fully depopulated on foot of a veterinary decision made on analysis of the overall TB disease situation within a herd.

Separately, the department advised the new minister to review the current bovine TB strategy “as a matter of urgency”.

In a briefing for the minister setting out the current priorities and issues for the agricultural sector, DAFM stated that the current TB control measures are “inadequate”.