379. Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the estimated cost of increasing the budget for compensation for TB reactors to the current market value of cattle. [48445/26]

Ireland’s TB Eradication Programme has a comprehensive compensation regime in place for herd-owners who are affected by bovine TB.

My Department provides a range of financial supports that focus on compensating farmers for both direct and indirect losses incurred as a result of a bTB breakdown on the farm.

The On Farm Market Valuation Scheme (OFMV) is the principal compensation measure available to Herd-owners whose herds are affected by a bTB breakdown in their herd. The Scheme aims to compensate farmers up to the open market value of an animal as if they were not affected by disease, subject to ceilings.

The most recent figures show, of 40,583 animals valued under the On Farm Market Valuation (OFMV) scheme in 2025, approximately 10.7% were valued above my Department’s maximum compensation ceilings. Compensating herdowners for the excess ceiling amounts would have increased the 2025 OFMV scheme expenditure by €1.2 million.

In addition to the compensation package for eligible reactor animals that are removed during a TB breakdown, my Department operates three supplementary schemes that assist farmers with the indirect losses incurred as a result of a TB breakdown on their farm.

The Income Supplement Scheme is a targeted scheme which assists farmers who lose 9.5% or more of their herd to disease due to a single TB breakdown. Income supplement is only payable in cases where the 9.5% threshold is met in one continuous restriction period and where full Depopulation is not deemed an appropriate measure.

The Hardship Grant is a targeted scheme aimed at assisting eligible herd-owners who retain and feed animals during prolonged periods of restriction as a result of a TB breakdown and that have more animals than the same period in the previous year. The scheme runs each year for herds restricted between November 1st and April 30th.

Depopulation Grant is paid for each animal removed in the depopulation measure and for those herds that are partial or fully depopulated on foot of a veterinary decision made on analysis of the overall TB disease situation within a herd.

As part of the work of the TB Forum, a dedicated Financial Working Group was established to review the financial modelling of various elements of the Bovine TB Eradication programme. As a result of the agreement reached in this Group, over the last two years there were rate enhancements to the Income Supplement Scheme, the Hardship Grant and the Depopulation Grant as well as enhanced ceilings for select animals being removed as part of the On Farm Market Valuation.

Due to the increased cost of the bTB programme in recent years, the focus at present is on reducing the levels of disease which will reduce the impact of bTB on Irish farm families and reduce the cost of the programme which has risen to over €121 million in 2025.