'New TB Action Plan is weak at best and watery at worst' - senator
The Minister for Agriculture, Food and Marine has defended the government's new TB Action Plan after it was described in the Seanad as "weak at best and watery at worst".
Aontú Senator Sarah O'Reilly also questioned "what is going to be the difference with this action plan" as opposed to the previous eradication plan.
Minister Martin Heydon published the new plan last month which is based on five key measures which are underpinned by 30 actions.
During a debate in the Seanad on a motion tabled by Fine Gael senators which acknowledged "the importance of agriculture to rural Ireland and the Irish economy" a number of senators highlighted the "record levels" of TB throughout the country.
Senator O'Reilly was among those who highlighted a new report from the Comptroller and Auditor General on the the government's current TB eradication programme and how much it has cost.
The report detailed that over the ten-year period to the end of 2024, TB cost the Department of Agriculture Food and Marine (DAFM) "almost €500 million".
"The cost to the department in 2024 was just over €100 million, an increase of 35% on 2023," it stated.
Senator O'Reilly said: "The total spend on the programme is 76% more than the original estimate and yet in 2024 we had the highest incidence rate in over 20 years.
"The reality is that farmers have been vocal for years in telling the department that this programme wasn’t working.
"The programme was failing for a long time and instead of putting their hands up and admitting it wasn’t working the Government continued to pour millions into it.
Separately Independent Senator Victor Boyhan also highlighted the "critical aspects" of the Comptroller and Auditor General report on the current TB programme.
Senator Boyhan said the report put forward a number of recommendations to DAFM including that it "should consider adopting measures such as aligning the payment of compensation to effective biosecurity measure".
He called on Minister Heydon to ensure that he puts the "resources in place" to deliver on the recommendations to the TB eradication programme.
The minister told the Seanad that over "6,000 farm families were affected by a bovine TB outbreak in 2024" and that herd incidence was at 6.04%.
He said he was "determined not only to stop this increase but to turn the dial and drive this trend back in a positive direction".
According to Minister Heydon the new action plan "represents the single largest reset of the bovine TB programme since its inception to put in place the measures necessary to tackle the current disease situation".
