The finance group will work on compensation payments to farmers.\ Donal O Leary
The TB finance group began its work on farmer compensation payments at its first meeting on Thursday, with Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue saying there was positive and constructive discussion.
The group has four terms of reference:
Informed by the independent cost benefit analysis, developing a sustainable funding model for the ongoing financial requirements of the TB programme, in line with National Farmed Animal Health Strategy principles.
In line with the recommendations from the independent review of the On Farm Market Valuation Scheme, proposing initiatives consistent with providing fair valuations of reactor animals in a timely and cost-effective manner.
March 4, 2021 4:56 pm
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue has welcomed what he called the “positive start” to the Finance Working Group that was recently set up under the TB Stakeholder Forum.
The group, which is chaired by Gerry Kiely, held its first meeting today (Thursday, March 4).
“The Bovine TB Eradication Programme is our largest animal health programme and is subject to substantial financial support from farmers and taxpayers,” the minister noted.
In recognition of this, the terms of reference for the Finance Working Group tasks them with a heavy workload, particularly the need to ensure that the TB Programme is sustainably and appropriately funded.
January 28, 2021 7:06 am
Westminster has refused to step in to replace a £15.3 million EU fund ring-fenced for TB eradication efforts in Northern Ireland, according to a departmental response penned by Northern Ireland Agriculture Minister Poots.
The question, seeking to quantify the shortfall in funding anticipated as a consequence of the exit from the EU, was put to the region’s Agriculture Minister by SDLP agriculture spokesman Patsy McGlone.
In response, Minister Poots wrote: “In relation to future Rural Development funding, Northern Ireland will lose out on £34 million of funding over the 2021-22 to 2023-24 period.
HM Treasury has further advised that there will be no separate funding to replace the income DAERA has received for many years from the EU Fund for Disease Eradication to support the Bovine Tuberculosis (bTB) Programme.
Around 10 million people developed tuberculosis (TB) in 2019. TB is the leading cause of death by an infectious disease globally, causing 1.4 million deaths last year – although in 2020 deaths due to Covid-19 will likely surpass deaths caused by TB.
While there are many factors contributing to the high rates of TB disease and deaths, failing to diagnose many people living with TB and provide them with appropriate treatment is a key contributor to the spread of TB and the high number of deaths.
“Without early and accurate diagnosis and rapid linkage to care, TB continues to spread in households and communities, and people with TB are put at greater risk of morbidity and mortality from the disease,” writes David Branigan of the NGO Treatment Action Group (TAG) in the organisation’s recently published
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