A large-scale field trial of BCG vaccination of Irish badgers to determine if it can prevent them getting TB and spreading it to the Irish cattle herd is about to get under way.
The Department of Agriculture in conjunction with the Centre for Veterinary Epidemiology and Risk Analysis is to carry out the trials.
The killing of badgers found on or near farms where TB has been found in cattle is the department's policy in its efforts to rid the national herd of the disease.
While this policy, tighter controls and mandatory cattle testing have proved successful in reducing instances of the disease, Minister for Agriculture Mary Coughlan said more action is needed to eliminate it.
"Notwithstanding the fact that the existing wildlife strategy has contributed to a reduction in the incidence of bovine TB, it is accepted that the development of a vaccine for badgers is a prerequisite if eradication of tuberculosis from the cattle population is to be achieved."
She added that the policy had led to a significant reduction in the incidence of the disease. from 4.2 reactors per 1,000 animals tested in 1989 to 2.7 per 1,000 last year. "A total of approximately 6.3 million animals were subject to at least one test within 12 months and approximately 8.9 million animal tests were carried out," she said in a recent written reply in the Dáil.
Ms Coughlan said that in addition to the removal of badgers where they were implicated in a TB outbreak, her officials were also using the gamma interferon test in problem herds as an adjunct to the tuberculin test.
In addition, where the levels or duration of infection of a herd indicated, neighbouring herds were sometimes removed in the fight to get rid of the disease.
Her department "plans to commence a large-scale field trial of BCG in badgers in the near future to test the efficacy of a vaccine".
The Minister added: "However, any vaccine will not be available in the immediate future and in the meantime, the existing programme, updated as appropriate in light of developments, will remain in place."