The Agriculture Minister has announced that his Department is rolling out TB vaccinations for thousands of badgers in an effort to reduce the number that have to be culled annually over time.
In a Parliamentary Question last week, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon was asked if he thought there would be an eventual end to culling of badgers as a result of the rollout of TB vaccination programmes.
“Badger vaccination is now a key part of the Irish TB Eradication Programme,” the Minister said.
“This follows over 15 years of research work using BCG vaccine to prevent tuberculosis infection in badgers, and scientific trials carried out between 2013 and 2017 that show that vaccination is no less effective than culling.”
The Minister explained that the State has been conducting a “large-scale rollout” of badger vaccination since 2019, and that “every year more and more of the countryside is designated as vaccination zones.”
“This is reflected in the numbers of badgers captured for vaccination in these zones rising from an initial figure of 1,937 badgers in 2019, to 8,123 in 2024,” he said.
“Provisional figures for 2025 indicate that 7625 badgers were captured in the vaccination zone.”
He said that while the current bovine TB eradication strategy includes a combination of badger culling and vaccination, “the intention is to gradually reduce badger culling per annum in tandem with the badger vaccination”.
“However badger vaccination alone would not be deployed in areas with a high incidence of Bovine TB,” he added.
As part of the Government’s Bovine TB Action Plan released last September, the State is implementing a “Test Vaccinate Remove” strategy for badger vaccination, which is intended to vaccinate only healthy animals and thereby boost the overall success of the wildlife intervention programme.
The issue of badgers in rural areas is a fraught one, with farmers and animal rights groups regularly clashing over the topic.
Previous research funded by the Irish Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) established that badgers are susceptible to Mycobacterium bovis, the bacterium responsible for bovine tuberculosis (bTB).
Subsequent DAFM-supported studies, including a project in East Offaly, found evidence that infected badgers contribute to the persistence and transmission of bTB within cattle herds. These investigations concluded that successful eradication of the disease from Ireland’s national herd would not be achievable without first tackling and controlling the infection in badger populations.
Notably, the Four Areas Study (1997–2002) showed that areas with lower badger densities experienced a clear decline in bTB incidence among cattle.
Meanwhile groups like Badgerwatch Ireland claim that badgers have been “scapegoated” over the TB issue, and that “the overwhelming scientific evidence identifies that cattle movement is most impactful factor in the spread of bTB.”
“A 2022 scientific UK study analysed government data on bovine TB (bTB) from 2009 to 2020 and found that the decline in bTB cases was likely due to cattle-focused biosecurity measures introduced before or during the culling period,” the campaigning group says.
“The study found no link between badger culling and a drop in bTB in cattle. Additionally, in ten high-risk counties, bTB cases in cattle were already decreasing before intensive badger culls began.”
Opinions remain divided on the issue among competing interest groups.