{"id":13035,"date":"2025-09-10T21:41:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T21:41:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/13035\/"},"modified":"2025-09-10T21:41:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T21:41:08","slug":"farming-organisations-react-to-irelands-new-tb-action-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/13035\/","title":{"rendered":"Farming organisations react to Ireland’s new TB action plan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Farming organisations have reacted with reservations surrounding the new 30 actions announced in Ireland’s new TB plan.<\/a>\n <\/p>\n

The Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (ICOS) welcomed the action plan established by the department, with its emphasis on data transparency, improved farmer supports, and new marketing outlets as some of the key takeaways for the society.<\/p>\n

Speaking on the published action plan, ICOS livestock\u00a0 and environmental services executive Ray Doyle said: \u201cICOS values the emphasis on data transparency, improved farmer supports, and new marketing outlets for restricted herds, which can help alleviate some of the stress and financial strain of outbreaks.<\/p>\n

“At the same time, we believe that successful implementation will depend on striking the right balance between effective disease control and maintaining fair, workable conditions for farm families.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, Mr Doyle emphasised the need for further clarity from the minister of agriculture, Martin Heydon, in regards to the special cull cow sales proposed in the action plan, saying: \u201cWe will need further clarity from the minister on mart sales and movements through marts over the next few weeks.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

ICMSA\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA) has criticised the new action plan, calling it lop-sided.<\/p>\n

Speaking on the release,\u00a0 ICMSA president Denis Drennan said: \u201cAs ICMSA repeatedly warned against, the actions and requirements are very firm on farmers, and very flimsy on everyone else!\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Drennan focused especially on what he said were the \u201cvague commitments\u201d required of other actors, and he said that those would need to move past this aspirational “fuzz” and become firm, and clear targets with timelines and markers had to be reached with specified timeframes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mr Drennan said that the success or failure of the plan would depend on time-lined accountability.<\/p>\n

\"DenisDenis Drennan: ‘The actions and requirements are very firm on farmers, and very flimsy on everyone else!’<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s entirely up to the minister at this stage; if he wants farmers support, then he has to show that he\u2019s in earnest about getting the other actors to really commit \u2014 and we include his own department in this \u2014 and only in that way will he signal that he\u2019s genuinely serious about carrying through the measures that everyone knows are required,\u201d concluded the ICMSA president.<\/p>\n

IFA\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Irish Farmers\u2019 Association (IFA) has mixed feelings on the matter of the new action plan, with IFA president Francie Gorman saying the plan consists of some positive aspects, but other areas of the plan fall short and continue to persecute farmers with herds who have failed a TB test.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we fully understand that there needs to be a new programme, it would have been better to have an agreement with farmers\u2026 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,\u201d Mr Gorman said.<\/p>\n

The IFA president called in particular for a review and removal of the outdated ceilings of \u20ac3,000 and \u20ac5,000 applied by the department to the on-farm market valuation scheme.<\/p>\n

\u201cRemoving the outdated ceilings that have failed to keep pace with the value of animals in the marketplace in the Live Valuation scheme is the first step, and it must happen immediately,\u201d said IFA animal health chair TJ Maher.<\/p>\n

ICSA\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers\u2019 Association (ICSA) animal health and welfare chair, John Barron, has said that some aspects of the plan are positive, but some measures won’t sit well with farmers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also welcome several new elements of the plan, including a 30% increase in wildlife operatives, the establishment of a telephone helpline for farmers entering a breakdown \u2014 something ICSA has long been insisting on \u2014 special sales for restricted animals, financial assistance for on-farm biosecurity measures, and a commitment to consistency across all District Veterinary Offices,\u201d Mr Barron said.<\/p>\n

\"AgricultureAgriculture minister Martin Heydon and ICMSA president Denis Drennan at a meeting in Agriculture House last March.<\/p>\n

Mr Barron also called for another TB Forum without delay to provide oversight of the rollout for this new plan and to monitor its performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also need to address the issue of outdated compensation caps. Unless this and other concerns are dealt with in full, the goodwill needed to make this plan work will not be there. Farmers want to see progress towards eradication, but it has to be achieved in partnership with them, not at their expense,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Farming organisations have reacted with reservations surrounding the new 30 actions announced in Ireland’s new TB plan. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13036,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[12634,12633,12635,61,60,43],"class_list":["post-13035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-farming-beef-and-sheep","tag-farming-dairy","tag-farming-rural-life","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13035"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13035\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}