Bluetongue: Statements
Seanad Éireann — 2026-02-24
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Martin Heydon (FG), Kildare South

I thank colleagues for raising a variety of different points. I am going to make a little room. We were making notes as we went along. I will endeavour to get to everyone's questions and respond to the different points that were raised. Points that have been raised regarding the confirmation of the presence of bluetongue serotype 3, BTV-3, in Ireland. It poses a not insignificant challenge for us. I remain acutely aware of how worrying this is for farmers. All colleagues across the House have highlighted that. That is especially true in areas where there are more instances of bluetongue, particularly in the south east. My Department has engaged regularly with farming organisations and industry stakeholders since its presence was confirmed.
I acknowledge that Senators made time in their busy schedules to have a debate on the issue. That allows us to communicate. I have no doubt but that the agricultural media, in particular, will be following the debate here as they did the debate in the Dáil Chamber last week. The media will report the points that have been made. Getting clear and concise information to all sides and all members of the Oireachtas committee, as I did with my officials earlier, has been helpful. We want to disseminate clear information and take away the fear. This is a new scenario for farmers but one that is not surprising. We have watched the spread of the disease. Not to dwell on the point, but when Senator Paul Daly was praising me, I felt there was a kick to come somewhere. I thank him for his comments. I pay tribute to the teams of staff and people who have worked on this issue. Officials in my Department have done a remarkable job in keeping bluetongue off the island before now and in having a clear plan and preparing for if and when it arose. They have interacted with and reassured private veterinary practitioners, PVPs, and farmers. We saw with the outbreak of avian influenza how a co-ordinated approach across all sectors, including the staff in our regional veterinary offices around the country, can play a key role in reassuring farmers of the points that have been made. I thank my colleagues for their endeavours and help with the communication piece.
Senator Brady raised a number of points. The advice to people is to discuss the vaccine with their veterinary practitioner. This is not a one-size-fits-all solution and a tailored approach is required. It must work right for the individual. It is a commercial decision. This is, as I said, a trade virus - a production virus, if you like - in that it impacts trade and business decisions. It obviously impacts the health of the animal that gets it but there are no human health or food safety concerns, as we have reiterated. However, as the decision around vaccine has a number of contributing factors, it is a decision to be made by a farmer with the advice of his or her PVP. The aim of the vaccine is to protect against potential infection in 2026 and, therefore, to reduce its impact in spring 2027 and to stop that cumulative effect.
Nearly every Senator mentioned the impact on cross-Border trade. We are acutely aware of that. Only last Thursday, I was in Donegal and met the Minister of Agriculture, Environment, and Rural Affairs of Northern Ireland, Andrew Muir MLA, as we announced an €11.7 million investment from my Department and under the shared island initiative, and a cross-Border pilot project, between Donegal and Derry, piloting new measures and doing some research projects around bovine TB. We have seen from the success in New Zealand at driving down instances of bovine TB that regionalisation approaches have worked really well. That will be a key project. The Minister and I discussed at length the impact on trade. It is important we understand when we talk about derogations that there is no derogation to trade that is not without risk. A derogation in relation to this issue is not just between us and Northern Ireland. If we agree to apply a derogation for the movement of animals across the Border, it would apply to all member states. The incidences and the levels of infection disease across Europe are very different to those here. It is much more established there. That is an issue we must bear in mind. A derogation would mean that other animals could move here and we could have significant disease consequences and outcomes out of that. We are considering all of the derogation options allowed under the EU regulations. As I said, the disease situation is very different in member states on the Continent and we must bear that in mind. This is not just between us and Northern Ireland.
Senator Kyne raised a number of questions, in particular about Wexford and Wicklow. He asked was there any commonality or linkage between those areas. In the epidemiological testing and efforts that have taken place, no commonality has been found between the Wicklow and Wexford strains. Louth is obviously closer to where the first instances occurred in Northern Ireland. The information available to us is that it takes very specific environmental conditions for a plume of midges to successfully cross the Irish Sea but the sense is that what happened in Wexford most likely came over from the UK rather than down from the North because it is such a jump in geographical area. We have seen that those conditions can occur and provide encouragement to BTV-3. Given the high concentration of bluetongue cases in the south east, Great Britain is the most likely source. It is not unlikely that there will be additional incursions of infected midges into the Republic later this year. That is a real risk for us.
Senator Kyne also raised questions around vaccination. It is a decision for each farmer, in consultation with his or her vet. Modelling by University College Dublin, UCD, has identified the higher risk counties for disease incursion and we are doing more active surveillance in those areas. The Senator also asked about the culled cow scheme, which covers all of the Republic of Ireland. He also asked about animals that test positive. It is important to bear in mind that when animals tests positive for the bluetongue virus, they are infectious for approximately 60 days. Animals that tested positive in early January or February are not going to be positive by the time midge activity can pass it on. We are in the low incidence period within herds and it is difficult to identify all the positives. We are aware that there are positives out there that we may not have identified because we are in the lower risk period. The focus is to identify the broad geographical areas where bluetongue is present. This information will assist farmers in making the decision to vaccinate. To vaccinate or not is a commercial decision. There is also cost involved for the individual farmer. In addition, the likelihood and risk of the disease being prevalent in your area is a contributing factor to that decision.
I thank Senator Boyhan for his comments. I wholeheartedly agree that communication is very important in respect of bluetongue. There are three vaccine licensed, to answer his specific question. He has put me on the spot here and is going to make me try to pronounce these vaccines, which is not simple. They are Syvazul BTV 3, Bluevac-3 and Bultavo 3. Bultavo 3 is the most popular vaccine. Officials will provide in writing details on the availability of other vaccines. As of 18 February, 88 PVP licences for vaccines had been processed. There has been some take-up to date.
Senator Paul Daly raised a number of important points and questions. He raised many points I agree with around targeted surveillance and said that the briefing of the information is important. Unfortunately, no other member state has had success in eradicating the bluetongue virus to date. That was reflected in the recategorisation. The Senator asked what opportunity this provides for us. Senator Brady also touched on the point. Being honest, when we were free of bluetongue we did not want it. We did not want recategorisation because it means you cannot attain disease-free status into the future. How bluetongue spreads through midge activity means that when it gets into the midges and into an area it is very hard to eradicate. No one has done it successfully so far. Moving from category C to category D and E is significant. Now that it is on the island, focus needs to be on mitigating the risk to livestock. That was why I licensed the use of vaccines once we had our first cases in Northern Ireland. I did not wait for it to come here. I wanted to give time and notice for it.
The Senator also asked about the spread and what will happen if it gets into the deer population. To be clear, this disease does not spread from animal to animal. It is absolutely the case that the midge is the vector, if the temperatures are warm enough for that to be the case. Deer will not catch it and pass it to other deer. However, if a deer, cow or any animal has the disease and an uninfected midge lands on it and catches the disease, that midge has the ability to spread it.
That is how it becomes established.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-02-24/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:41+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-24