Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 May 2023
591. Deputy Marc Ó Cathasaigh asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the current cost of the culling of each badger under the TB Eradication Programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24324/23]
View answerSince my Department began the widespread rollout of the badger vaccination programme in 2019 significant resources have been required in terms of manpower, supplies and services. My Department has funded these resources each year in line with requirements. In 2022 approximately €6.4 million was spent on the wildlife programme.
Given the range of activities and varied workload that the staff involved in the wildlife programme undertake it is not possibly to extrapolate how much it costs to cull badgers on an individual badger basis.
