Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon has clarified the spend on bovine tuberculosis (TB) eradication programmes over the past 15 years.

The minister was responding to a parliamentary question from Fianna Fáil TD, Deputy Michael Cahill on the amount paid to vets annually by his department through the TB eradication programmes from 2010 to November 2025.

In response, the minister provided a table showing the amount in testing fees paid to veterinary practitioners annually by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) through the TB eradication programmes from 2010 to November 2025.

The table shows an increase in expenditure since 2022, due to an increase in disease levels.

Below is a list of the costs paid by DAFM:

2010: €9,502,000
2011: €9,310,000
2012: €7,789,000
2013: €7,115,000
2014: €7,889,000
2015: €6,461,000
2016: €6,307,000
2017: €7,048,000
2018: €7,330,000
2019: €8,541,000
2020: €9,898,000
2021: €9,856,000
2022: €13,578,000
2023: €13,262,000
2024: €14,623,000
2025 (up to 31 October 2025): €14,352,000

Minister Heydon also pointed out that his department recently published the ‘Bovine TB Action Plan, Addressing Bovine TB in Ireland’ to move toward the eradication of the disease.

Spokesperson

Earlier in the week, a spokesperson for the department said: "The continued increase in TB disease levels in recent years has resulted in significant additional work in the administration of the TB programme for the department.

"There has recently been an increase in the volume of TB compensation payments that resulted in a temporary backlog in payments."

Last week (November 19), DAFM confirmed that it requires an additional €98 million to "meet costs that will arise in 2025", as confirmed by Minister Martin Heydon.

The minister told the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture and Food that DAFM needs extra funding this year because of "cost pressures" from bovine TB, and farm payments due under the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES).