The cost to the Department of Agriculture of administering this year’s leg of the TB eradication programme was €69m up to the end of August.

Farmer compensation for reactors came to €43.1m, while Department-paid herd testing fees of €11.3m went to vets.

The wildlife element of the programme took €5.2m, supplies another €1.7m and hauliers received €1.6m. Tuberculin costs represent an additional €1.2m in spending, research accounted for €1.2m and valuer fees, as well as other miscellaneous bills not accounted for in other headings took €1.6m to cover.

ADVERTISEMENT

The figures cited above do not account for the costs shouldered by farmers, nor do they account for the Department’s personnel bill for administering the programme.