Farmers in west Wicklow want to see a deer cull in the area to assess the prevalence of TB among deer there. West Wicklow has seen a rise in herds testing positive for TB over the last 12 to 18 months.

“Up to now, the badger has been recognised as a problem, but in the east wicklow area of Calary, deer have also been recognised as a cause of infection in livestock,” said Billy Barrett, a dairy farmer from Dunlavin, Co Wicklow.

“The fact that the Department of Agriculture has no control over deer is a big problem.”

Seven of the 30 deer culled in the Calary and east Wicklow area tested positive for TB in 2015 – an infection rate of 23.3%, compared to the infection rate found in the first, larger cull taken among upland deer, which produced a figure of 15%.

The infection rate among cattle nationally is approximately 0.2%.