Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 1 Mar 2000

Vol. 515 No. 4

Written Answers. - Bovine Diseases.

Alan Shatter

Question:

72 Mr. Shatter asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development the extent, if any, to which the number of reactors has fallen in the five areas in which the pilot badger removal projects have operated, compared with the number of reactors in other areas. [6332/00]

Alan Shatter

Question:

73 Mr. Shatter asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development the number of badgers killed to date in the five pilot badger removal projects; the location of the projects; and the applicable period of operation. [6333/00]

Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development (Mr. Walsh)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 72 and 73 together.

Following is the information requested:

Project Areas(Parts of)	Period	No. of Badgers Removedduring these Periods
East Offaly	1989 to 1999 (Nov.)	2,129
Donegal	September 1997 to end 1999	274
Monaghan	September 1997 to end 1999	413
Kilkenny	September 1997 to end 1999	350
North Cork	September 1997 to end 1999	599

In the east Offaly research project, which commenced in 1989, the number of bovine reactors disclosed at tuberculin tests dropped from 362 in 1989 to 30 in 1995, a reduction of 92%. Since 1995, the level of reactor removal has continued to remain low in the project area and the incidence of the disease is amongst the lowest in the country. Analysis of bovine disease data in the other four badger project areas cannot be published until the five year period of these projects has elapsed.

Alan Shatter

Question:

74 Mr. Shatter asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development the reason he has concluded that a badger eradication pro gramme should be undertaken; and the areas in which it will apply. [6334/00]

Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development (Mr. Walsh)

Evidence of the likely involvement of tuberculous infected badgers in the development of the disease in the cattle population in Ireland has been documented in a number of studies including those by O'Connor and O'Malley, 1989, and Dolan, 1993. Research on strain typing, Costello et al 1998, also found that the same range and geographic distribution of strain types was found in the majority of cattle and badger isolates and that this suggests that transmission between these species is a factor in the epidemiology of Mycobacterium bovis infection in Ireland. Furthermore, the recent Krebs report in the UK on Bovine Tuberculosis in Cattle and Badgers, 1997, stated that the sum of the evidence strongly supports the view that badgers are a cause of herd breakdown. The fore going is also supported by the evidence available from the east Offaly project.

There are no current plans to have a badger eradication programme in Ireland. However, it is proposed to undertake further research in the area of wildlife infection to complement existing research work by taking a more proactive approach with a view to the removal of all sources of infection in the 20% of the country which yields some 50% of current TB reactors.

Alan Shatter

Question:

75 Mr. Shatter asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development the reported numbers of cases of tuberculosis in cattle in each of the past ten years; if he will give an annualised breakdown by county; if there has been a increase in cases of tuberculosis in cattle since the eradication scheme was privatised; and, if so, the reason in this regard. [6335/00]

Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development (Mr. Walsh)

Following are the statistics requested.

District Veterinary Office	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
Carlow	993	747	497	451	479	523	454	304	582	829
Cavan	2,368	1,788	2,451	1,511	1,600	1,785	1,561	1,726	3,422	3,343
Clare	4,197	3,233	2,320	1,609	1,124	1,494	1,388	1,185	2,642	2,531
Cork North East	1,308	1,504	1,283	1,441	2,036	2,400	2,947	2,881	3,449	3,776
Cork South West	2,005	1,950	1,532	2,616	2,841	2,990	2,880	2,471	3,187	3,154
Donegal	527	298	497	525	713	526	371	253	565	679
Dublin	73	27	123	85	125	66	109	117	102	231
Galway	2,311	1,409	1,853	1,503	1,126	1,462	966	980	1,475	1,622
Kerry	1,002	1,225	1,003	908	1,118	924	1,633	1,905	3,394	2,502
Kildare	964	862	764	886	520	363	402	394	452	554
Kilkenny	2,896	2,213	1,998	2,085	2,247	2,065	1,589	1,578	1,699	1,929
Laois	1,721	1,486	1,196	762	949	1,034	815	419	418	621
Leitrim	733	479	459	225	234	261	177	370	782	1,067
Limerick	1991	1,544	1,539	1,280	758	788	1,614	1,275	2,121	1507
Longford	933	1,072	785	720	558	507	383	692	735	924
Louth	814	769	826	464	779	578	624	892	965	764
Mayo	662	700	625	442	449	460	620	577	825	1,025
Meath	1,896	1,933	2,526	1,584	1,680	2,623	2,078	1,885	2,861	3,323
Monaghan	1,764	2,362	2,666	2,393	3,028	2,717	2,629	1,999	3,625	3,544
Offaly	1,712	966	991	739	644	661	563	299	451	641
Roscommon	1,110	886	942	910	849	838	729	823	1,245	1,078
Sligo	380	228	395	348	301	741	307	620	1286	727
Tipp South	2,498	2,477	2,479	2,172	954	1,230	943	1,232	1,591	1,890
Tipp North	2,239	2,284	1,145	1,146	940	1,247	879	681	1,330	1,371
Waterford	1,093	1,537	1,627	1,101	1,315	1,537	782	698	1,266	1,491
Westmeath	1,377	960	871	671	752	902	794	696	1,626	1,344
Wexford	1,183	1,092	1,715	1,191	1,617	1,518	994	899	1,086	1,277
Wicklow East	382	614	649	399	485	688	819	599	715	594
Wicklow West	287	187	240	192	218	252	350	197	601	565
Total	41,419	36,832	35,997	30,359	30,439	33,180	30,400	28,647	44,498	44,903

The position in relation to TB is that significantly higher numbers of reactors were disclosed throughout the country in 1998 and 1999 than in the preceding years. However, it is important to note that the number of reactors disclosed in 1996 and 1997 were amongst the lowest in this ten year period. Coincidentally, there have also been higher numbers of TB reactors in Northern Ireland and in parts of Britain in 1998 and 1999.

Veterinary experts in Ireland and the UK have not as yet established the precise reasons for the recent increased levels of disease but amongst the factors considered are the cyclical nature of the disease, higher cattle numbers, stocking density, poor weather conditions which may have made animals more susceptible to the disease, some fraud and infected wildlife.

Alan Shatter

Question:

76 Mr. Shatter asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development the annual cost of the tuberculosis eradication scheme in each of the past 30 years; and the number of reactors identified in each of these years. [6336/00]

Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development (Mr. Walsh)

A historical breakdown of the specific expenditure figures between the TB and brucellosis eradication schemes cannot be accurately estimated due to the fact that the majority of brucellosis tests occur simultaneously with TB tests.

The following are the TB and brucellosis eradication scheme expenditure figures and the number of TB reactor animals disclosed at test for each of the past 30 years.

Year	TB & Brucellosis expenditure£IR	Number of TB reactors disclosed
1970	6,386,029	35,982
1971	8,468,005	34,208
1972	11,200,700	31,258
1973	17,081,522	36,687
1974	13,303,635	46,655
1975	14,897,015	21,339
1976	8,812,637	24,888
1977	11,882,073	51,268
1978	13,829,186	30,642
1979	14,230,332	25,370
1980	24,403,906	29,827
1981	25,369,963	31,542
1982	20,582,733	30,013
1983	22,663,100	30,330
1984	21,555,519	31,715
1985	27,282,920	32,608
1986	24,529,997	28,179
1987	26,562,169	27,682
1988	28,478,975	29,994
1989	35,572,406	43,580
1990	46,583,145	41,419
1991	41,487,547	36,832
1992	42,241,000	35,997
1993	39,171,000	30,359
1994	43,422,000	30,439
1995	46,888,000	33,180
1996	40,296,000	30,400
1997	38,798,000	28,647
1998	49,875,000	44,498
1999	64,330,000	44,903

The foregoing expenditure figures represent the scheme expenditure for the years in question. Between 1970 and 1999, total receipts in respect of the TB and brucellosis eradication schemes amounted to £390.3 million. resulting in a net cost to the Exchequer of £439.8 million.

The receipts figure comprises £330.5 million from the bovine diseases levies regime, £29.2 million from the sale of reactors, no receipts in this regard after 1977 by which time the arrangements had changed and £30.6 million in EU contributions.