Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon has outlined the Department's latest plan to tackle the rise in bovine TB, which he described as "the biggest change in our approach in a generation".
Among the 30 actions proposed are a breeding strategy for TB resistance, an enhanced badger-vaccination programme, more targeted testing that includes mandatory TB testing in larger herds, and restricting high-risk cohorts.
In addition, pre-movement herd testing, deer management, and a localised response for areas with high bovine TB incidence will be developed.
The Department will also set up a financial assistance package to help farmers to improve on-farm badger biosecurity measures, which Mr Heydon said is the "single most important measure to protect cattle from badgers" and can be "as simple as putting effective fencing in place".
The measures come amid a continued rise in bovine TB on farms since 2016.
Over 40,000 cases of the disease were detected in the year to 7 September, which was an increase of more than 4,000 on the same time last year.
The herd incidence of TB over the same period has risen from 5.56% to 6.13%.
Since 2023 there has been a 44% jump in cases.
The Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) commissioned a report earlier this year that indicated TB is costing farmers over €150m a year.
The Minister said there has been a strong appetite from farming groups for a change in approach to the Government's bovine TB plan and the announced measures are the "single largest reset in the TB programme since its inception", adding the response is science-based.
Mr Heydon said tackling TB on farms is his "top priority" and he has "two clear goals": to give certainty to herds impacted; and give clear farms a much better chance of not contracting the disease.
Case numbers expected to rise in short term
The Department's Chief Veterinary Officer June Fanning said that under the new plan, an initial increase in the number of reactors (confirmed bovine TB cases) is expected in the next year or two, but that this will be down to enhanced testing and detecting the disease at an earlier stage.
Following this, case numbers are expected to stabilise before "turning the tide on exponential increases", Dr Fanning added.
Mr Heydon said a proper assessment of the success of the measures can be made in "a couple of years".
Funding dependent on budget allocation
The Minister said the level of funding available for the TB plan will depend on what is allocated to his Department after the Budget next month.
He said TB will be "a priority for me in Budget negotiations".
According to Mr Heydon, any extra funding allocated to bovine TB management will go towards tackling the disease and not to compensation schemes for farmers.
He said eradicating TB is "ultimately where the biggest saving will come for farmers".
The yearly cost of the State's TB management plan has risen considerably in recent years.
In 2018 €35m was spent, rising to €101m in 2024, while in the first half of this year the total spend was €61m, with the overall spend for 2025 expected to comfortably exceed last year's figure.
The Minister said that as cases have been rising, so too has the amount of compensation paid to farmers with infected herds.
Plan contains 'some positive aspects' - IFA
President of the IFA, Francie Gorman, said the Bovine TB action plan contains "some positive aspects, but also some measures which would be very tough for the farmers whose herds fail a TB test".
"While we fully understand that there needs to be a new programme, it would have been better to have agreement with farmers.
"I would acknowledge that the Minister and the Department took on board a lot of the concerns raised by IFA and others. However, this document was not agreed with the IFA," he said.
Mr Gorman added that support schemes in the TB programme "will have to be reviewed to ensure fitness for purpose before any additional controls or restrictions can be imposed on farmers".
"This must start by immediately removing the outdated arbitrary ceilings of €3,000 and €5,000 applied by the Department to the On Farm Market Valuation Scheme."
"These limits are unfair and with the welcome rise in the value of stock, more and more animals are exceeding the limits which leaves farmers out of pocket at what is a terrible time on their farm," he said.
"On the positive side, the programme contains significant enhancements to the Wildlife Control Programme which is vital if TB levels are to be brought under control."
Meanwhile, the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association (ICMSA) President Denis Drennan said: "The very first thing that will jump out is the lopsided nature of the actions and requirements that the plan proposes.
"As ICMSA repeatedly warned against, the actions and requirements are very firm on farmers, and very flimsy on everyone else.
"There are vague commitments required of other actors and these will need to move past this aspirational fuzz and become firm and clear targets with timelines and markers that have to be reached with specified timeframes.
"The success or failure of the plan will depend on time-lined accountability," he added.
As an example, Mr Drennan said "that while the proposals on wildlife are welcome, there are no specific targets or timeframes to deal with farmer concerns in relation to deer and badgers".
"What are the targets and over what time-frame? If the Minister wants farmer buy-in on his proposals, he will very quickly have to show that these commitments will be transformed to actions on the ground," added Mr Drennan.
