There has been a 14.84% decrease in the number of herds restricted with TB year-on-year.

New data from the Department of Agriculture shows that in the past 12 months, 5,407 herds have been locked up with TB, down from the 6,349 that were restricted in the previous 12 months.

As of 3 May 2026, a total of 35,489 reactors were detected. This is a drop of 6,601 reactors, a 15.68% drop, on the 42,090 that were recorded in the year to May 2025.

TB herd incidence has fallen below 6% to 5.42%.

Speaking in the Dáil on Thursday, Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon said that he believes TB eradication is possible and is something that can be delivered.

“However, there was no way it was going to be delivered by means of the trajectory we were on up until last year, when we were seeing an exponential growth in numbers of reactors and herds impacted.

“The definition of madness is doing the same thing and expecting a different result. I was not willing to do that,” he said, commenting that he spent 2025 engaging with stakeholders across the sector to draw up the new TB plan which came into force last month.

“A total of 94% or 95% of farmers who were free of bovine TB were petrified before the annual test every year and were hoping to avoid the disease. The new TB plan gives us the opportunity to move the dial, turn the tide, stop this significant increase and get it on that trajectory where we can get back to talking about eradication with real credibility. That is what I have sought to do here,” he said.

Compensation

The Minister was speaking in response to Joe Cooney, Fine Gael TD for Clare. Deputy Cooney said that the compensation ceilings must be urgently reviewed under the valuation schemes for TB.

“I would love not to have that ceiling in place; I would love the freedom to be able to operate outside of that.

“Market prices of animals continue to be monitored. However, the focus at present is on reducing the levels of disease, which will reduce the impact of bovine TB on Irish farm families and reduce the cost of the programme, which rose to over €121m in 2025. The only reason I got sanction for the extra money in my budget negotiations was because that money was to drive down the incidence rate and the disease.

“I did not get extra money for extra compensation. That is beyond the ceilings that are there. However, we continue to monitor this. It is something I would like to be able to move on in time, but I do not have the ability to do that right now,” he said.