The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine's budget for its TB response will be reduced for 2027 compared to 2026.

As part of Budget 2027, documents have been published by the Department of Public Expenditure outlining the budget allocations across various programmes for the different government departments.

This shows that the Department of Agriculture has been allotted €142.4 million for the TB programme for next year.

This is around €15 million less than the allocation for the programme for this year (2026), which was €157 million.

The document from the Department of Public Expenditure also said that the existing valuation ceilings will increase by €500 for all reactor animals valued in 2026.

The decreased overall budget allocation for TB comes after improvements in TB indicators over the course of this year.

The latest statistics for 2026 indicate 5,372 herds have suffered a TB breakdown in the last 12 months, which is down 10.9% compared to this time last year; with a herd incidence now of 5.42% compared to 6.03% this time last year.

The reduced allocation for TB also comes after a "lean review" of the TB programme, to improve the management and administration of the TB programme.

The Department of Public Expenditure said that the 2027 allocation of €142.4 million is being made available to "continue funding additional TB testing requirements and movement controls on animals as part of the Lean Review of the TB programme".

Budget 2027

In other Budget 2027 announcements, a new €31 million fertiliser scheme will launch in 2026 to help farmers manage rising fertiliser costs.

Farm organisations had urged the government ahead of Budget 2027 today to put in place new fertiliser supports to help farmers who have been battling high input costs and challenging weather conditions.

Today's confirmation by Minister Chambers comes months after the European Commission first moved to help farmers with fertiliser costs.