Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon said that he is "monitoring" the current valuation ceilings compensating farmers impacted by a bovine tuberculosis (TB) breakdown.

Farm organisations have made repeated calls for the valuation ceilings under the bovine TB programme to be reviewed.

They say that the compensation limits in the On-Farm Market Valuation Scheme are leaving some farmers out of pocket due to increased cattle prices.

Compensation

However, Minister Heydon told Agriland that "one of the key conditions" of securing additional TB funding under Budget 2026 was that "that money would be directed into addressing the spread of disease".

"But I am quite constrained in the terms and conditions of that new money I got and ultimately here we need to use that money to make sure that we have less farmers impacted by bovine TB into the future, less herds restricted and less reactors down the line," he said.

Speaking at the Listowel Food Fair in Co. Kerry this week, Minister Heydon acknowledged the toll bovine TB is taking on farmers.

"Farmers are going through pain right now, not just the farmers who are affected by this but the farmer who is facing into an annual herd test that is petrified of getting it.

"It is a really big concern for all our farmers. I know the financial impact on our farmers, I know the emotional strain," he said.

Bovine TB

The minister said that bovine TB also has a "huge impact" on his budget within the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).

Under Budget 2026, an additional €85 million was provided to address rising bovine TB levels across the country through a new action plan.

This means that around €157 million will be spent by DAFM tackling the disease next year.

"I wouldn't have got €85 million of new money into my budget, in the budget negotiations, without having had that new plan. I wouldn't have got that for business as usual," the minister said.

Based on current modelling, it is predicted that there could be up to 62,000 TB reactors next year.

Minister Heydon said the additional funds will be aimed at addressing "the three key contributors" to TB spread: wildlife; animal to animal transmission and residual transmission.

ICMSA

Meanwhile, the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association (ICMSA) has called on Minister Heydon to address "unacceptable delays" in the payment of TB compensation to farmers.

Eamon Carroll, deputy president of ICMSA, cited the Farmers’ Charter which he clearly outlined the department’s obligations.

"The Farmers’ Charter commitment is that farmers should be paid within three weeks of the submission of the required documentation and - to put it mildly - this unambiguous charter commitment is being breached blatantly with many farmers waiting months for the compensation due.

"It’s just outrageous that these farmers who are dealing with the loss of their animals and the associated loss of income associated can be left ‘twisting in the air’ like this and having their distress compounded in this fashion," he said.

Carroll said that the first step in securing that farmer ‘buy-in’ for the new TB action plan "must be to treat affected farmers with fairness and respect".

"We are calling on the minister to immediately pay all payments that are already outside the charter timeframe commitments and to ensure that no more due payments are delayed beyond the charter timeframes," he added.