ICSA Animal Health and Welfare chair John Barron has said that while Minister Heydon’s TB Summit held in Dublin yesterday (Thurs 8 May) showed a welcome intent to reinvigorate the fight against TB, many of the Department’s proposals lacked clarity and fairness. “We welcome the recognition that a new approach is needed. However, ICSA has deep concerns about the selective use of science, vague proposals, and a growing emphasis on penalising farmers instead of reforming the system. Science must be applied consistently – not just to justify tougher rules for farmers while ignoring glaring gaps in wildlife control,” he said.
“A key example of this is the rollout of the badger vaccination programme which coincided with rising reactor numbers. While we welcome the long-overdue decision to actually test badgers for TB before vaccinating them, the fact that this hasn’t been routine until now is ludicrous and shows how selectively the science is being applied.”
He said, “There was also vagueness around the proposed 30% increase in wildlife operatives. The current Wildlife Control Programme is chronically understaffed, but there was no clarity on whether this refers to a 30% increase on current inadequate levels or on where staffing levels should actually be.”
On the issue of uncontrolled deer populations contributing to the spread of TB, Mr Barron said: “It is clear that the problem is growing. While it is an improvement that the issue is no longer being ignored, the current approach may still fall short. Deer control requires maximum intervention, not minimal tweaking.”
ICSA was also critical of the proposed 30-day pre-movement test for all cows, and males over 36 months. “Scrapping the post-movement test is a step forward – but replacing it with such a strict pre-movement test is a step too far. A 90-day window would be far more practical. Farmers could, under the Department’s proposals, also end up testing every six months for five years if they have three reactors.”
On herd categorisation, Mr Barron said, “Again there was very little clarity on how the Department intends to use herd categorisation. ICSA’s position is that categorisation must be for Department use only. Mandatory public disclosure at marts causes stigma and economic harm without reducing TB spread – these animals are still bought and finished regardless.”
Regarding Risk Mitigation Plans (RMPs), he said, “The Department’s proposal that RMPs will be ‘provided’ by Veterinary Inspectors rather than jointly developed with farmers is a major red flag. These plans can restrict everything from purchasing stock to breeding decisions. They must be negotiated, not imposed.”
Mr Barron also said ICSA called for the introduction of an independent helpline for farmers affected by TB and other pressures. “This service is badly needed. Many policy proposals ignore the emotional toll of prolonged TB restrictions and herd losses, and there has been a lack of meaningful support for affected farm families for too long.”
Concluding, Mr Barron said, “ICSA made it crystal clear – we will not tolerate any cuts to compensation. Cutting payments is fundamentally unfair when the precise source of infection is unknown in most cases and TB testing is far from 100% accurate. Any farmer can suffer a TB breakdown despite their best efforts, yet the Department’s version of ‘science’ seems to blame farmers, and then cut their payments. That’s completely unacceptable.”
He said, “ICSA remains committed to the eradication of TB. We support reform and innovation – but only where it is matched with fairness, mutual respect, and science that is applied consistently and objectively.”
The TB summit took place in Agriculture House, Kildare St, Dublin. Representing ICSA were ICSA president Sean McNamara, ICSA Animal Health and Welfare chair John Barron, ICSA general secretary Hugh Farrell and Eoin Farrell (ICSA Animal Health and Welfare Committee).
ENDS
