Government spend on TB hit €25.8 million from January to the end of March this year according to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).

Latest national bovine tuberculosis (TB) statistics show this represented a 2% decrease compared to corresponding figures for quarter one 2025.

However the latest statistics also show there was an 18% increase in expenditure in the first quarter of the year in relation to the On Farm Market Valuation Scheme (OFMV) - the main compensation scheme available to farmers who experience a TB breakdown in their herd.

By the end of quarter one 2026 OFMV costs had increased to more than €16.7 million.

According to DAFM this is "due to strong market values".

"OFMV is the main contributor to the increase in bTB programme expenditure in recent years," the department added.

Last September the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon, published the "Bovine TB Action Plan Addressing Bovine TB in Ireland".

This plan included five key measures and 30 actions which aim to target both the transmission levels between wildlife and cattle and transmission between cattle.

TB

The latest national TB statistics show that in relation to disease levels on a rolling 12-month basis, herd incidence stood at 5.51% and there were 36,219 reactors by March 29, 2026.

The number of herds restricted in the first quarter of the year stood at 5,497 - which was down compared to the corresponding figure of 6,243 for quarter one in 2025.

The statistics also show a sharp drop in some of the costs related to government efforts to reduce the incidence rate of TB throughout the country, particularly in relation to vet fees and spending on the wildlife strategy.

According to the department the TB Programme "incorporates a wildlife strategy which includes a combination of badger culling and vaccination".

DAFM has detailed that the badger vaccination "is a key part of the programme".

It has also highlighted that there has been more than 15 years of research using the BCG vaccine to prevent TB infection in badgers.

According to the department a large-scale rollout of badger vaccination started in late 2019 and every year more and more of the countryside is designated as vaccination zones.

"The intention is to gradually reduce badger culling per annum in tandem with the badger vaccination," DAFM has stated.