The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) is closely monitoring a bovine tuberculosis (TB) hotspot in north Kerry and west Limerick, where disease levels are running above the national average, Minister of State Niall Collins has said.
Addressing the Listowel Food Fair Farming Seminar at the Listowel Arms Hotel on Monday, November 9, Collins told a large crowd of farmers from across the region that the local rise was a trend his department was tracking and one of "significant concern".
He said the department was very aware of the emotional and financial strain a TB breakdown places on farmers, their families and their communities, and that the higher incidence in north Kerry and in his own west Limerick was being watched closely.
A local increase against a falling national trend
National figures point the other way. Department statistics covering the 12 months to September 27, 2026 show herd incidence at 5.40%, down from 6.08%, with 5,353 herds restricted, a fall of 12%, and more than 36,374 reactors, down 9.5%.
- National herd incidence: 5.40%, down from 6.08%
- Herds restricted: 5,353, a reduction of 12%
- Reactors: more than 36,374, down 9.5%
Collins attributed the national reduction of about 10.9% year-on-year to the combined efforts of stakeholders working with farmers to lower risk in their herds, but acknowledged that above-average levels persist in several regions, including the north Kerry and west Limerick area.
Funding and the action plan
More than €142 million has been earmarked for bovine TB measures under Budget 2027, and valuation ceilings for reactor animals have been raised by €500. The minister said the overall allocation is lower than before precisely because national disease levels have fallen.
The Bovine TB Action Plan, launched in September 2025, sets out some 30 actions underpinned by scientific research, evidence and veterinary expertise. Further changes to animal testing and animal movement requirements were introduced in April to reduce cattle-to-cattle transmission of the disease.
Collins said the department's focus remains on cutting disease levels, which would in turn reduce the impact on farm families, lower the cost of the programme and decrease costs for farmers and taxpayers.
He told Agriland that the rise in cases in north Kerry and west Limerick is being monitored on a day-to-day, real-time basis with departmental officials, and that he has asked for more manpower to be made available to local staff to help reverse the trend.
He added that focusing those efforts locally, alongside the action plan and this year's changes, should drive disease levels down further.
For farmers in the region, the message was a mixed one: national progress is real, but local incidence remains the practical problem, with restricted herds and reactors at the centre of the control effort. Collins said reversing the local trend matters because of the impact on farmers, farm families and rural communities.