Ireland is very close to being BVD free, Patrick Donohoe, CEO of Animal Health Ireland (AHI), told the Irish Farmers Journal.

While he admitted that it has taken longer than anyone wanted to get here, he emphasised the necessity to “keep the foot on the throttle and go hell for leather” at getting the final few pockets eradicated.

“We started this process with 11% of the breeding herd with BVD. Today, we’re down to just over 100 herds,” he said.

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Donohoe, who was appointed as CEO of AHI in July 2026, said that while the programme has been criticised for the length of time it has taken, nobody can argue that it hasn’t been a huge success.

“It has delivered more animals, healthier animals and reduced antibiotic usage,” Donohoe said.

He cited an analysis of the programme which showed an economic benefit to the industry overall of €183.4m, at a cost to farmers of €10.3m.

He wouldn’t put a timeframe on Ireland being BVD free.

Donohoe was speaking ahead of AHI’s annual general meeting held on 4 June in the Killeshin Hotel, Portlaoise.

The annual report for AHI showed a surplus for the year of €150,142, based on incoming funds of €11.22m and expenditure of €11.07m.

AHI’s income from stakeholders, amounting to €1.67m in 2025, is a 50:50 split between funding from the Department of Agriculture and industry bodies.

Those stakeholders are the majority of the meat and dairy processors in the country as well as farmer representative bodies.

The majority of its other funding relates to targeted advisory services on animal health which cover the main disease programmes. This funding amounted to €7.98m in 2025.

Donohoe explained that in managing up to 26,000 veterinary inspections on farms, AHI pays the vet and the Department pays AHI, meaning the funding and the costs cancel each other out. Donohoe said that AHI has agreed a five-year memorandum of understanding this year to allow the matching core funding from the Department to continue.

“Our funding is pretty simple. Broad strokes, our core income is around €1.9m, when the pig levy and Department income is included.

“Our core costs for salaries, rents, rates and keeping the lights on, before we run a programme, are about €1.7m. So, it is a hair-shirt organisation,” Donohoe said, adding that “nobody joins AHI to be a millionaire”.