TD slams lack of deer management ‘strategy’

Farmers have also criticised the "haphazard approach" to the management of wild deer, which has "brought us to crisis point".

A TD has criticised the lack of “strategy” for deer management in Ireland.

Fianna Fáil TD Jackie Cahill told Department of Agriculture officials at an Oireachtas committee meeting that in Co Wicklow, farmers “have stopped keeping bovines because they couldn’t get clear of TB because of deer”.

“There is definitely a huge increase in the amount of deer that’s there,” Mr Cahill said.

“You talk about eradicating [TB] in the bovine herd, but I don’t see any strategy for focusing on the deer herd.”

Department senior superintending veterinary inspector Damien Barrett said they have evidence that deer are involved in the epidemiology of TB in Co Wicklow.

“We’ve got whole genome sequencing that’s linking the TB in the cattle to TB in the deer and TB in the badgers. Of some deer that have been tested in Co Wicklow, we’ve seen levels of TB between 12% and 16%,” Mr Barrett said.

“In the rest of the country, the level of TB detected is of the order of 2%.

“That clear epidemiological link in Co Wicklow, we haven’t seen it yet [in the rest of the country] and we don’t want to see that.”

This month, farmers criticised the “haphazard approach” to the management of wild deer, which has “brought us to the crisis point we now find ourselves in”.

The Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association is calling on Government to address the “concerning” increase and spread of deer, which in some areas, the association said, “is a significant factor in the spread of bovine TB”.

INHFA president Vincent Roddy has stressed the need for a coordinated approach by all state bodies “to address this problem”.

Deer Management Strategy Group

In October, Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue announced a new Deer Management Strategy Group had been formed, in collaboration with the National Parks and Wildlife Service of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, to be chaired by Teddy Cashman.

After a meeting of the Bovine TB Stakeholder Forum, Mr McConalogue said that he is “acutely aware” of the financial and emotional pain associated with TB breakdown.

“I am committed to further driving down TB rates,” Mr McConalogue said.

“The collaborative model of the forum is making real and impactful progress; herd incidence is reducing this year, and farmers, vets, scientists, my department, and all other stakeholders continue to have vital roles to play.

“The journey is challenging, but collaboration like this makes it possible to travel it successfully together."

On Wednesday, Minister McConalogue along with Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage Darragh O’Brien jointly launched a new public consultation to inform the next phase of the development of the Deer Management Strategy.

The purpose of the consultation coordinated by the Deer Management Strategy Group is to gather views on key issues relating to deer management in Ireland, the impact of increased deer numbers on a variety of issues such as forestry, biodiversity, road safety, animal health and welfare and the welfare of the deer themselves.

Speaking at the recent Oireachtas committee meeting on bovine TB, department deputy chief veterinary officer June Fanning said that there are the “building blocks in place to implement additional measures to the existing TB programme” to lower disease incidence and “result in less farm families having to endure the challenges associated with a TB restriction”.