IFA Animal Health Chair David Hall said the agreement in the TB Forum to consider providing additional funding for farmer compensation in the TB programme is based very much on the Department of Agriculture delivering significant enhancements to the Wildlife Control Programme.
These include additional staff resources and increased activity on and around TB farms in implementing the Programme.
David Hall said while commitments have been given in this regard in the TB Action Plan we need to see effective and efficient roll out on the ground of these commitments before the issue of increasing farmers contribution towards the enhanced compensation schemes for farmers comes onto the table.
He said when the Department of Agriculture sit down with us and outline in detail their activity and resources in the Wildlife Programme, we will determine if the commitments given have been met.
The IFA Animal Health Chair said if the Department of Agriculture can show us these enhancements have been implemented effectively on the ground, then we will engage further on funding the higher levels of compensation for farmers impacted by TB breakdowns.
