Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 17 September 2014
441. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine not to spend €2 million killing badgers and research properly the cause of the spread of bovine TB; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33150/14]
View answerIreland’s TB Eradication Programme has for many years incorporated the results of broad-based scientific research on all aspects of the disease including, but not limited to, the role of badgers. In particular, my Department has and continues to sponsor relevant research by the Centre for Veterinary Epidemiology and Risk Analysis (CVERA) based within the University College Dublin School of Veterinary Medicine. In addition, my Department, together with CVERA, has developed long standing collaborative links with research institutions in Australia, New Zealand and North America and conducts and publishes research on many aspects of tuberculosis surveillance, tuberculin testing and the effectiveness of various policies. CVERA’s scientific publications are available on their website: http://www.ucd.ie/cvera/biennialreports/. The wildlife policy itself has been developed in response to such research conducted over the years which has demonstrated that the eradication of the disease is not a practicable proposition until the reservoir of infection in badgers is addressed. Capturing of badgers takes place in areas where serious outbreaks of TB have been identified in cattle herds and where Department veterinarians have found following an epidemiological examination that badgers are the likely source of infections.
In tandem with this, my Department continues to sponsor research and trials into developing a vaccination programme to control TB in badgers, thus improving the overall health status of that species, and break infection link to cattle. The research to date has demonstrated that oral vaccination of badgers in a captive environment with BCG vaccine generates high levels of protective immunity against bovine TB. Current research continues with a view to confirming that such a protective effect holds true in the wild population.
The ultimate objective is to incorporate badger vaccination into the TB eradication programme when data is available to ensure that it can be incorporated in an optimally effective and sustainable manner. A number of field trials are ongoing with this objective in mind, but it is anticipated that it will be a number of years before a viable oral delivery method can be put in place and, therefore, targeted badger removals will continue in the medium term.
