The veterinary profession has admitted that the current bovine TB eradication scheme can only achieve containment of the disease in cattle but will not lead to its eradication.
Veterinary Ireland, which represents the profession, said the endemic high levels of bovine TB in wildlife, particularly in badgers, was the most significant barrier to TB eradication in cattle.
"This represents a very difficult obstacle to overcome," said a position paper on the disease which was published yesterday.
"We support the current research and other work which is attempting to find both interim and long-term solutions to overcoming the problems associated with TB in wildlife," said the document.
It pointed to what it called the "dramatic" decline in infection rates in cattle in east Offaly, where in 1988 the entire badger population was removed from a 240 sq mile area.
This resulted in a drop in the number of reactors (animals failing the bovine TB test) from 326 in 1988 to just 30 in 1995. Veterinary Ireland said it supported the research work involving the removal of the badger population in areas in Cork, Donegal, Kilkenny and Monaghan.
It also believed the rule specifying that animals would only have to be tested once a year to be a contributory factor in spreading the disease from infected to clean herds.
"Veterinary Ireland sees the current 12-month window in which cattle can be traded freely after a TB test as a significant weakness in the programme and strongly recommends that this 12-month window be shortened," it added.
The document said it considered there would be significant benefits in relation to the prevention, control and management of TB and other animal health problems at farm level if considered in the context of an overall herd health-management programme on each farm.
It pointed out that before 1954 when the eradication programme was introduced, an estimated 80 per cent of cattle herds and 17 per cent of the animals in Ireland were infected with TB
In a similar paper on brucellosis,Veterinary Ireland reported significant improvement in the national herd over the past three years.