Sectors committed to eradicating bovine TB, says NI's chief vet

"All sectors" are committed to a new blueprint to eradicate bovine TB in Northern Ireland, according to the Chief Veterinary Officer for Northern Ireland.

Brian Dooher has published the TB Partnership Steering Group's (TBPSG) Blueprint for Bovine TB Eradication in Northern Ireland.

The group includes representatives from the farming, veterinary, environmental, wildlife, animal processing and market sector groups.

The report published outlines actions to be taken over the short, medium and longer term, based on three pillars – people, cattle, and wildlife.

It will create a number of pilots, including testing a regional approach, extending the testing window, and a focus on herds with prolonged and recurring breakdowns.

But it does not commit to any precise form of wildlife intervention, such as a badger cull.

Instead, it will "bring forward proposals for effective, evidence-based wildlife interventions and TBPSG views for consideration by Minister".

Legislation will then be required to allow any preferred approach to be implemented.

The Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Minister Andrew Muir welcomed the blueprint.

"We cannot continue on the current path," he said.

"Change is required and this ambitious blueprint provides us with a clear and decisive way forward to finally setting Northern Ireland on the pathway to eradication."

The TBPSG was established after the Chief Veterinary Officer published his review of bTB in Northern Ireland in November 2024.

At the time, farming representatives dismissed it.

But they later helped form the TBPSG which has brought forward this blueprint.

CVO Brian Dooher said it marked "a new step" in the fight against BTB.

"It details the immediate actions which must now progress and also provides a roadmap of medium and longer-term areas where continued collaborative working between government and our stakeholders will be essential if we are to deliver the real change now required in our efforts to fight bTB.

"In the foreword, the TBPSG noted that the blueprint is founded on the principle that eradicating this disease requires a unified, multisectoral approach.

"It acknowledges where further engagement and assessment is needed and recognises that eradication will take time but provides the framework where eradication of bTB can now be realistically advanced."

A bTB eradication programme has been in place in Northern Ireland since the 1950s.

But herd incidence is now at almost 11% and costs have risen dramatically, particularly due to compensation for the increasing value of affected slaughtered animals.

While final figures are still being calculated, the programme is expected to have cost £60 million in 2024/25 with the majority going towards compensation.