There is a total disconnect between the Department and the farmer that actually gets tied up with TB, Willie Hanrahan Clare IFA chair, has said.

He was speaking at a packed Deparment of Agriculture/IFA event in Gort, Co Galway, last Thursday night.

“From the very moment that a red tag goes on the ear of an animal on your premises, you’re almost treated like a criminal. Your whole life is taken over from there on until you get cleared again. First of all, you get the pack, the famous pack, the most intimidating piece of literature I’ve ever seen in my life.

“For people who have never had TB before, that is the most intimidating thing that could come into their house. We all give out about the forms for filling out the single farm payment, but they are nothing compared to the TB pack,” he said.