Irwin urges action on TB eradication

Mr Irwin contributed to the debate in the Assembly this week on a motion focusing on the need for the DAERA Minister to urgently bring forward a TB reduction strategy.

Mr Irwin said: “Bovine TB continues to cause havoc on our agriculture sector in Northern Ireland, putting farmers who are dealing with the disease down a very stressful path. The lack of what I termed meaningful and real action from DAERA’s perspective is fast becoming a major inhibiting factor to successfully driving down TB incidence rates in Northern Ireland.”

He continued: “As our own Party ammendment suggested, any strategy must also give regard to the impact of wildlife carriers and I firmly believe that we will not see any noticeable progress until a strategy that includes meaningful action around wildlife is rolled out.

“Whilst it is easy to cite the massive cost of TB in terms of compensation paid for diseased animals each year, that must not be used an excuse to reduce what is paid to farmers when the Department has consistently underperformed in the fight against TB. Farmers who are dealing with TB need compensated fairly given the work, stress and strain that an outbreak brings, that is why compensation must remain at the current rate.”

He concluded: “Whilst we all realise a debate in Stormont won’t bring about a magical drop in TB rates, it should signal clearly to Minister Muir that time is of the essence and that meaningful action must be forthcoming soon in order to curb what are spiralling disease rates in Northern Ireland. Controlling TB and driving down disease levels is in everyone’s best interests and that should be the catalyst for action.”