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The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture is to meet with representatives from four farm organisations and Department of Agriculture officials to discuss the eradication of TB.
The meeting at 6.30pm on Tuesday 9 March will begin with representatives from the ICMSA, the IFA, the ICSA and Macra na Feirme, before a separate engagement from 7.30pm with Department officials.
Ahead of the meeting, committee chair Jackie Cahill said: “In 2016, Ireland reached a historical low number of bovine TB cases. However, it has increased each year since and 2020 saw an acceleration of the disease.
“The financial cost of the bovine TB programme is estimated to be over €97m in 2020, which is a €15m increase since 2015.”
Funding
Cahill pointed out that Ireland is the only EU member state with a continuing significant bovine TB challenge.
This is reflected in the ongoing reductions in EU co-funding support for the TB programme, raising further funding challenges for farmers and the State.
“January’s Bovine TB Eradication Strategy 2021-2030 sets out a roadmap with the aim to eradicate bovine TB in Ireland.
“With that in mind, we are delighted to have five key members of the bovine TB stakeholder forum before us on Tuesday,” Cahill said.
The meeting can be viewed here.
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