31 Mar 2015, 18:34
The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine (AHI) this afternoon heard of the steady progress by Animal Health Ireland on their range of programmes, including national BVD eradication and Somatic Cell Count reduction.
31 March 2015
AHI is an industry-led, not-for-profit partnership between livestock producers, processors, animal health advisers and government. Their representatives outlined the steady reduction in instances of Persistently Infected (PI) calves with BVD, falling by 31% from 0.67% (13,942) of all calves born in 2013 to 0.46% (9,762) in 2014. Meanwhile, CellCheck, which is the national mastitis control programme administered by AHI, has delivered a significant improvements in recent years.
Committee Chairman Andrew Doyle TD says: “The marked progress reported by the AHI towards BVD eradication and Somatic Cell Count reduction is to be warmly welcomed. The Committee was told of moves by the AHI Board to examine their funding model and to safeguard in manner in which Board Members are appointed. Whatever reconfiguration might be proposed in any review, the Committee is strongly of the view that the AHI’s modest budget is well worth the outlay, given high animal health and welfare standards underpin our €10 billion agri-food industry. We thank AHI representatives for a thorough summary of their programmes and fully support their innovative work in safeguarding and supporting Irish agriculture.”
Media enquiries to:
Paul Hand,
Communications Unit,
Houses of the Oireachtas,
Leinster House,
Dublin 2
P: +3531 618 4484
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paul.hand@oireachtas.ie
Committee Membership:
Chairman: Andrew Doyle, (Fine Gael)
Deputies: Tom Barry (Fine Gael); Pat Deering (Fine Gael); Martin Ferris (Sinn Féin); Martin Heydon (Fine Gael); Michael McNamara (Labour); Éamon Ó Cuív (Fianna Fáil); Willie Penrose (Labour Party); Thomas Pringle (Independent)
Senators: Michael Comiskey, Denis Landy, Paschal Mooney, Mary Ann O’Brien, Brian Ó Domhnaill, Pat O’Neill