The Department of Agriculture’s TB control programme has taken by far the largest slice of the increase in Government funding for agriculture in Budget 2026.
Budget 2026 has allocated €157m to TB allocation, an €85m increase on the previous budget's allocation.
The TB budget bump will hoover up half of the extra €170m committed to Department spending when compared with last year across all funding headings.
Despite the significant increase in TB's spending allocation, there is still a shortfall in the Budget TB funding and the €170m to €180m programme cost estimate cited by senior Department officials to the joint Oireachtas committee in June.
“This significant additional investment in the programme will support a wide range of impactful measures including additional targeted testing, additional resources for the wildlife programme and supporting on-farm biosecurity both through direct support to farmers for improving biosecurity infrastructure on their farms and facilitating more engagement between farmers and their private veterinary practitioners through Targeted Advisory Service on Animal Health (TASAH) visit," Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon stated on Tuesday.
The increase also comes as the State’s spending watchdog recently reported that the Department’s spending on TB far outstripped funding allocations in each year since 2020.
Spending surpassed the initially estimated for TB budgets by between 17% and 76% in these years.
While Budget 2024 committed €73.5m to cover last year’s TB bills, there was over €100m actually spent due to higher-than-expected numbers of reactors showing up in herd tests and increasing cattle values pushing the Department’s compensation bill upwards.
The spending overrun was even more significant when looking at the farmer compensation element of the TB programme; the farmer TB compensation spend was 136% higher than had been budgeted for.
The rise in farmer compensation to €64m in 2024 out of a total spend of €100m came as the average compensation received per reactor hit its highest ever level of €1,536, an 11% increase on the previous year as cattle prices strengthened.
The equivalent figure had stood just below the €900 mark in 2015 and exceeded €1,200/reactor in 2021 before falling the following year and climbing steadily each year since.
Read more
Just under €70m spent on TB up to August
TB compensation averaged €1,536/reactor in 2024
Spiralling TB costs could cost Department €180m next year
The Department of Agriculture’s TB control programme has taken by far the largest slice of the increase in Government funding for agriculture in Budget 2026.
Budget 2026 has allocated €157m to TB allocation, an €85m increase on the previous budget's allocation.
The TB budget bump will hoover up half of the extra €170m committed to Department spending when compared with last year across all funding headings.
Despite the significant increase in TB's spending allocation, there is still a shortfall in the Budget TB funding and the €170m to €180m programme cost estimate cited by senior Department officials to the joint Oireachtas committee in June.
“This significant additional investment in the programme will support a wide range of impactful measures including additional targeted testing, additional resources for the wildlife programme and supporting on-farm biosecurity both through direct support to farmers for improving biosecurity infrastructure on their farms and facilitating more engagement between farmers and their private veterinary practitioners through Targeted Advisory Service on Animal Health (TASAH) visit," Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon stated on Tuesday.
The increase also comes as the State’s spending watchdog recently reported that the Department’s spending on TB far outstripped funding allocations in each year since 2020.
Spending surpassed the initially estimated for TB budgets by between 17% and 76% in these years.
While Budget 2024 committed €73.5m to cover last year’s TB bills, there was over €100m actually spent due to higher-than-expected numbers of reactors showing up in herd tests and increasing cattle values pushing the Department’s compensation bill upwards.
The spending overrun was even more significant when looking at the farmer compensation element of the TB programme; the farmer TB compensation spend was 136% higher than had been budgeted for.
The rise in farmer compensation to €64m in 2024 out of a total spend of €100m came as the average compensation received per reactor hit its highest ever level of €1,536, an 11% increase on the previous year as cattle prices strengthened.
The equivalent figure had stood just below the €900 mark in 2015 and exceeded €1,200/reactor in 2021 before falling the following year and climbing steadily each year since.
Read more
Just under €70m spent on TB up to August
TB compensation averaged €1,536/reactor in 2024
Spiralling TB costs could cost Department €180m next year
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