Sinn Fein’s spokesperson on Agriculture, Martin Kenny, has today (Wednesday, March 5) called for a review of TB regulations in beef-controlled finishing units (CFU) feedlots as a matter of urgency.
According to the Sligo-Leitrim TD, TB reactor cattle numbers have risen from 29,193 in 2023 to 41,319 in 2024 and he believes, that the TB eradication programme is not working, and that a review is urgently needed.
“In response to a recent parliamentary question, where I asked the Minister for Agriculture about TB reactors in CFU herds, I was informed that 663 restricted herds were contiguous to CFU herds,” he said.
Deputy Kenny told Agriland that the eradication programme is clearly an issue that needs to be dealt with.
“These controlled finishing units have got TB on them in many cases, that TB is clearly spreading to adjoining farms and it is a serious issue,” he said.
TB eradication programme
Deputy Kenny said he has been in contact with farmers throughout the country who are currently locked up with the disease.
He said: “They believe that infection is coming from CFU herds adjacent to their land. There are, as we know, strict criteria for having CFU such as double fencing or walled fencing to prevent contact with a contiguous herd.
“However, this does not seem to be enough, walls and fences will not stop wildlife such as badgers roaming from one farm to another.”
The TD is calling on Minister Heydon to establish a review of the TB regulations for CFU’s.
“We need to start bringing down the number of TB reactor cattle because at present the TB eradication program is not working.
“We are not even managing TB at present in this state, never mind eradicating it,” he added.
Minister Heydon
In response to Deputy Kenny’s parliamentary question Minister Heydon said he was “committed to making real progress in eradicating TB” because he was “acutely aware of the emotional and financial trauma associated with a TB breakdown for farmers”.
The minister also detailed that Ireland’s bovine TB Eradication Programme “is guided by national and international scientific research and advice”.
“A large body of peer-reviewed research has been conducted into the spread of the disease in Ireland and the risks underlying its transmission”.
The minister said that this research has found that the principal causes of “TB introduction and spread” include:
- Spread from infected badgers to uninfected cattle;
- Movement of infected cattle with undetected infection;
- Residual infection in cattle previously exposed to TB;
- Spread across farm boundaries from infected cattle to uninfected cattle;
- Indirect spread through other biosecurity breaches;
- Spread from infected badgers to uninfected cattle.
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