Debate contribution: Bovine TB

Debate contribution by Mr Patsy McGlone on 19 November 2024.

MLA

Mr Patsy McGlone

Party at the time

Social Democratic and Labour Party

Date

19 November 2024

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Bovine TB

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4666279

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I welcome the motion and the opportunity to highlight the issue of bovine TB and discuss how the Minister, with the support of his Executive colleagues, intends to address it. I am not sure what the amendment adds — I will support it, by the way — other than a specific mention of wildlife intervention. I presume that that intervention is science-based and would be covered by the text of the motion. Those of us who represent rural constituencies are more than aware of the potentially devastating impact of a bovine TB infection on cattle herds, particularly on our smaller farms. There are over 1·6 million cattle in the North on over 20,000 farms. As has already been said this afternoon, at any point, more than 10% of those herds are infected with bovine TB. That is the highest rate across these islands and one of the highest across the EU. The financial cost of the current bovine TB control programme is more than £50 million annually, with £36·5 million paid out in compensation last year. That cost is expected to be over £60 million in 2024-25. It is becoming financially unmanageable. There is excessive expenditure on trying to control the issue by, basically, wiping out cattle herds. That is the cost to the public purse. There is also the emotional cost to many people and families who have had the same blood flow in their cattle herds for many years. They have looked after their cattle carefully and precisely and tended to them to the utmost standards of animal welfare. The loss of a herd leaves some people in absolute tears.

Sure.

OK, thank you. It is vital that the Minister brings forward an updated, comprehensive and holistic strategy to tackle the infection as quickly as possible and to help address the many issues that colleagues have referred to. Bovine TB is a serious threat to farming and impacts on our agriculture sector and our food production, which are key to our economy. We heard that last night near Lisburn. That said, the motion might be slightly premature. I say that because, in July, the Minister told the AERA Committee that he had tasked the Chief Veterinary Officer with reviewing all matters related to the bovine TB programme and policy, including TB eradication; indeed, he is, I think, due to present on that to the Committee soon. According to the Minister, it is intended that that review will ensure that the steps to address bovine TB are, as you would expect them to be, evidence-based and sustainable. The review has to consider best practice and issues in neighbouring jurisdictions. The Minister has said that he anticipates that it will be completed by the autumn. On 10 October, the Strategic Investment Board published an independent review of the TB Eradication Partnership on behalf of the Department. That review is expected to inform consideration of any future partnership body in the context of the Chief Veterinary Officer's wider review. I expect that the Minister will update us on all of that today, but, unless the Executive parties commit to providing increased funding, it is likely that he will have to make compromises in his chosen strategy. I doubt that Members of the Executive parties will give a commitment to providing that necessary funding. We have to wait until the Minister's new approach is published before we can assess whether it focuses on specific science-based strategies that have been proven to reduce bovine TB. Successive Ministers and Executives have attempted a variety of approaches to tackling bovine TB, all of which, they would have argued, were backed by scientific evidence, including the test and vaccinate or remove policy for badgers introduced by our now First Minister and an indiscriminate cull of up to 4,000 badgers a year proposed by the now Speaker. The latter approach was, of course, quashed in the High Court because the Department failed to comply with the requirements of a fair and lawful consultation. There is another issue that we need to look at, which I mentioned in the Committee: the proliferation of deer. Deer are also carriers, and they are increasingly spreading the noxious disease. The Department, the Minister and all others will need to look at that too. I am sure that the Minister will be suitably cautious in his approach, but that caution needs to be balanced with pragmatic measures to reduce this awful disease, which is a plague on our rural communities, farms and farm families. It is awful. Equally, I expect the Minister to design a strategy for which he can provide sound, scientific backing.

772 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:37 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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