Compensation delays compounding TB stress for farmers

Almost €10.5m has been paid in compensation by Q3 this year but the ICMSA say delays in payments is compounding stress on farmers locked down with TB.

ICMSA say the delayed TB payments should be addressed by the minister of agriculture.

Farmers are having their TB troubles compounded by delayed compensation payments, says the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA).

Deputy president of ICMSA, Eamon Carroll, said the matter “could and should” be addressed as a matter of priority by minister Heydon.

Mr Carroll cited the Farmers’ Charter, which he said was “unambiguous” about the department’s obligations on TB compensation.

“The Farmers’ Charter commitment is that farmers should be paid within three weeks of the submission of the required documentation, and — to put it mildly — this unambiguous charter commitment is being blatantly breached with many farmers waiting months for the compensation due.” 

According to the latest department figures in Quarter 3 (Q3), compensation paid out so far this year is almost €10.5m.

Compensation has risen by 61% from Q3 2024 (€6.5m) to Q3 2025 (€10.48m). This figure includes financial working group income supplement balancing payments.

“It’s just outrageous that these farmers who are dealing with the loss of their animals and the associated loss of income associated can be left ‘twisting in the air’ like this and having their distress compounded in this fashion,” said Mr Carroll.

The deputy president noted that the new TB action plan launched by the minister earlier this year would require substantial farmers' buy-in.

Mr Carroll said the first step in securing that farmer ‘buy-in’ must be to treat affected farmers with fairness and respect, and this was assuredly not happening at present.

ICMSA say this department's failure in the first step of getting farmers on-side does not “bode well for the kind of proactive approach that the new TB strategy was predicated on”. 

“We are calling on the minister to immediately pay all payments that are already outside the charter timeframe commitments and to ensure that no more due payments are delayed beyond the charter timeframes. God knows that TB causes enough stress for the farmers in question, and the department shouldn’t be adding to that”, concluded Mr Carroll.