Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 28 January 2026
153. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he can urgently address the compensation ceilings currently in place for TB reactors, as an increasing number of farmers are suffering huge financial loses and must be compensated up to the current market value; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6886/26]
View answerBovine TB is an ongoing challenge for Irish farmers. I am acutely aware of the emotional and financial impacts of bovine TB on farmers, their families and rural Ireland.
I welcome the increased budget allocation in Budget 2026. I am confident that this will allow the revamped bTB programme to focus on tackling disease levels through the implementation of the measures laid out in the new bTB Action Plan and will support and enable farm families who are currently dealing with the stress of a TB outbreak to navigate a way out of a TB restriction and protect those herds currently free from TB from the stress of a TB outbreak.
The objective of the new measures in the Bovine TB Action Plan is to reduce the number of farms affected by bTB and decrease costs for farmers and the taxpayer.
My Department provides a range of financial supports that focus on compensating farmers for both direct and indirect losses incurred as a result of a TB breakdown on the farm. The primary support scheme is the On Farm Market Valuation scheme where animals removed as reactors receive compensation subject to scheme ceilings equivalent to their market value in the event they were not disclosed as TB reactors. In 2025 of the 39,790 animals valued under the On Farm Market Valuation scheme just over 91% of animals were valued below the scheme ceilings.
As part of the work of the TB Forum, a dedicated Financial Working Group was established to review the financial modelling of various elements of the Bovine TB Eradication programme. As a result of the agreement reached in this Group, over the last two years there were rate enhancements to the Income Supplement Scheme, the Hardship Grant and the Depopulation Grant as well as enhanced ceilings for select animals being removed as part of the On Farm Market Valuation.
Due to the increased cost of the bTB programme in recent years, the focus at present is on reducing the levels of disease which will reduce the impact of bTB on Irish farm families and reduce the cost of the programme which has risen to over €121 million in 2025.
