Vol. 422 No. 5
15 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if he will outline the directions he has issued concerning the eradication of badgers; if he considers such action to constitute cruelty to animals; and whether it is possible to eradicate bovine TB without resorting to these measures.
37 Mr. McGahon asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food whether the link between the spread of bovine TB and badgers infected by the disease has been proven scientifically to his satisfaction; and if so, if he will outline his views on the extermination of badgers in areas where bovine TB is prevalent.
148 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the reason the Wildlife Service have been directed or obliged by his Department to grant licences to snare and shoot badgers in TB blackspot areas because of the allegations of a direct link between bovine TB and badgers as carriers in view of the unjustifiable suffering which badgers have to endure from snares and shooting; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Wexford): I propose to take Questions Nos. 15, 37 and 148 together. The badger is a protected species under the Wildlife Act, 1976, and may only be removed humanely for research purposes, strictly in accordance with conditions specified in licences issued by the Wildlife Service of the Office of Public Works.
It is generally accepted that wildlife, including badgers, have a role in the transmission of bovine TB. A strong and growing body of scientific evidence supports this view and a number of projects undertaken have demonstrated that removal of infected badgers facilitate the reduction in TB levels in cattle. It is also recognised that wildlife is just one of a number of sources of TB infection. Therefore, the removal of badgers is undertaken where infected badgers have been identified in areas with high levels of bovine TB. In the longer term research is in progress on the development of a vaccine designed to protect badgers and other species from tuberculosis.
My Department have neither directed nor obliged the Wildlife Service of the Office of Public Works to issue licences, nor are they empowered to do so. The current limited degree of badger removal is licensed because of the scientific evidence to which I have referred.
I asked the Minister if he had issued directions concerning the eradication of badgers and if he considers such action as an action which constitutes cruelty to animals. The Minister did not answer that question. There is evidence in the North to suggest that the eradication of bovine tuberculosis has nothing to do with badgers.
(Wexford): My Department have not directed the Wildlife Service of the Office of Public Works to issue licences nor are we empowered to do so. It is a matter for the Office of Public Works and we have no say in it.
Has the Minister carried out a census of the badger population here? Can the Minister give a figure as to the percentage of the badger population infected with TB? Are there regional variations or is there a fairly uniform distribution of the disease?
(Wexford): There are approximately 250,000 badgers in the country and 14 to 18 per cent of badgers taken out have been shown to have TB lesions.
Has the Minister studied the findings of a report made in December 1989 by the veterinary research laboratories at Stormont for the Northern Ireland Ministry of Agriculture which clearly shows that the balance of probability is that badgers contract TB from cattle and not the other way round? Would the Minister not agree that until there is conclusive proof that badgers are causing TB this cruel and unnecessary extermination of badgers must stop?
(Wexford): Animal lovers reluctantly expressed consensus at the Royal Irish Academy conference on the badger which was held last year, and also in a research institute report entitled “Badgers and Bovine TB in Ireland” published in 1989, that in many parts of the country it may not be possible to control bovine TB without controlling the badger population. I am not saying that the badger is the sole cause of bovine TB but it is one of the causes. To what extent it is not known. A research project is currently under way at University College, Cork, to develop a vaccine which will resolve the problem when it comes to hand. It is not in anyone's interest to have a wildlife population infected with TB. ERAD's long term aim is to ensure disease free cattle and wildlife, protecting Ireland's multi-billion pound livestock industry.
