Minister Must do More to Deal with Threat of Bluetongue

IFA President Francie Gorman said the Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon and his officials can and must do more to help farmers offset the impact of BTV 3 should the disease enter this country.

He said farmers are actively playing their part in monitoring livestock for any signs of the disease and reporting any suspicions to their vets and the Department. The numbers of suspected cases being reported bears this out.

“It is vital we do everything in our control to prevent this disease entering the country, the trade disruption and potential on farm production losses would impact directly and solely on farmers,” he said.

“In refusing to make provision for the option of vaccination to limit the potential losses, the Minister for Agriculture and his officials are exposing farmers to greater risk than is necessary,” he said.

Francie Gorman said the Minister should keep an open mind on this approach. It is farmers’ incomes and livelihoods that are stake here, if the impact of the disease is comparable to experiences on the continent.

He said the Minister must immediately move to approve vaccines for use in this country and put in place a stock of these vaccines to have available for use should the need arise.  It’s not acceptable to hold off until there is an introduction of the disease or an urgent need to vaccinate.

IFA Animal Health Chair TJ Maher said early detection, containment and eradication of the disease must be the priority, but farmers who want to take precautions to minimise the impact of the disease in their herds should not be prevented from doing so.

He said the first step in this process is to have vaccines approved for use and a stock of them in the country, and this must be done immediately.