Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, with special responsibility for Forestry, Fisheries and the Marine, Mr. Tony Killeen has warmly welcomed the EU Commission’s approval of Ireland’s application for official brucellosis free status.
“For some time, Ireland has been in a position to be declared Brucellosis-free because of the dramatic reduction in the incidence of Brucellosis over the past decade and because there has been no confirmed outbreak of this disease here since April 2006”, explained Minister of State Killeen. The Fianna Fail TD for Clare described the EC’s approval as a “significant development” for Irish agriculture. He pointed out that securing Brucellosis-free status for Ireland would now enable the Department of Agriculture to reduce some of the control elements of the eradication programme over the coming years with a beneficial impact on farmers, particularly in relation to trade.
Minister of State Killeen continued, “I acknowledge that the eradication arrangements have been disruptive and costly both to farmers and to the Department of Agriculture, in terms of compensation and the substantial additional costs incurred on testing and other economic losses arising from the premature removal of infected cattle. Our combined efforts and success in combating Brucellosis is due to a number of factors, not least the full cooperation of all stakeholders with the eradication regime.”
Minister Killeen welcomed the confirmation from his colleague and Minister for agriculture Brendan Smith that a controlled reduction in the brucellosis eradication programme would take place over a period of years. He stated: “There will be an increase in the period of the pre-movement test from 30 to 60 days, while the age threshold for round testing will be increased to 24 months. However, in view of the greater risk attached to the movement, particularly the movement of breeding animals, the age limit for the pre-movement test will be retained at 12 months except in the case of bulls, for which the age limit is being increased to 18 months, given the lower risk of transmitting the disease.” Minister Killeen said that the new arrangements would be implemented as soon as possible after the publication of the Commission Decision and the necessary amendments are made to national legislation.
