Paul Murphy: Calls to End State-Sanctioned Badger Cull
Paul Murphy criticised the Department of Agriculture’s ongoing cull of badgers, saying it destroys biodiversity and amounts to state-sanctioned cruelty. He urged the Minister to end government-licensed badger culling and to adopt vaccination and measures tackling intensive farming as the root causes of bovine TB.
The speaker cited a Journal Investigates report that the Department has killed over 66,000 badgers in the last 10 years and noted that last year more than 7,000 were slaughtered, the highest number in a decade. He described the methods used - snares that cause internal organ damage, ruptured bladders and disembowelment - and warned that pregnant and lactating badgers are being killed, leaving cubs to starve. He also highlighted that over 4,000 foxes were trapped in snares over the same period.
Paul Murphy pointed out that Ireland is the only country in Europe committed to large-scale, government-licensed badger slaughter and that snaring badgers is banned in Scotland and Wales. He cited opinion polls indicating that over two-thirds of people want a ban, and referenced England's move to phase out badger killing and replace it with vaccination following scientific research.
He said scientific studies show culling has not delivered a significant impact on TB incidents in cattle and that 15 years of research by the Department of Agriculture found vaccination is no less effective than culling. He added that the Department itself admits culling is not sustainable in the long term because of its impact on badger ecology and that it does not work to control TB.
The speaker argued that badgers are being used as a scapegoat for industrial farming practices, noting that larger, more intensive dairy herds drive higher disease incidence. He welcomed the Minister's words of concern but pressed for concrete action, asking the Minister to commit to ending what he called irrational, state-sanctioned cruelty and biodiversity destruction.
Scale and methods of cull
The speaker cited a Journal Investigates report that the Department has killed over 66,000 badgers in the last 10 years and noted that last year more than 7,000 were slaughtered, the highest number in a decade. He described the methods used - snares that cause internal organ damage, ruptured bladders and disembowelment - and warned that pregnant and lactating badgers are being killed, leaving cubs to starve. He also highlighted that over 4,000 foxes were trapped in snares over the same period.
Legal and international context
Paul Murphy pointed out that Ireland is the only country in Europe committed to large-scale, government-licensed badger slaughter and that snaring badgers is banned in Scotland and Wales. He cited opinion polls indicating that over two-thirds of people want a ban, and referenced England's move to phase out badger killing and replace it with vaccination following scientific research.
Scientific evidence and alternatives
He said scientific studies show culling has not delivered a significant impact on TB incidents in cattle and that 15 years of research by the Department of Agriculture found vaccination is no less effective than culling. He added that the Department itself admits culling is not sustainable in the long term because of its impact on badger ecology and that it does not work to control TB.
Causes and policy challenge
The speaker argued that badgers are being used as a scapegoat for industrial farming practices, noting that larger, more intensive dairy herds drive higher disease incidence. He welcomed the Minister's words of concern but pressed for concrete action, asking the Minister to commit to ending what he called irrational, state-sanctioned cruelty and biodiversity destruction.
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Transcript
Thanks, Ken Corlea. I welcome the Minister's enthusiasm. I welcome the Minister's fine words. The question is whether we're going to get the action to go with it. I want to raise a very concrete case with you today and look for action. It's an issue where the state is not just not doing enough to protect biodiversity, it is actively destroying it. The issue is the ongoing slaughter of badgers by the Department of Agriculture. You'll have seen the Journal Investigates report saying that the Department has killed over 66,000 badgers in the last 10 years. The way that the badgers are killed is horrific. They're trapped in snares, leading to internal organ damage, ruptured bladders and even disembowelment. This includes pregnant and lactating badgers, leaving their cubs to starve to death. Other wild animals, including over 4,000 foxes in the last 10 years, also get trapped in the snares. Ireland is the only country in Europe committed to the large-scale, government-licensed slaughter of badgers. Snaring badgers is banned in Scotland and Wales. According to opinion polls, over two-thirds of people want it banned here as well. England has promised to phase out killing badgers and replace it with vaccination, following scientific research that found that all this slaughter had no significant impact on TB incidents in cattle. Fifteen years of research by the Department of Agriculture here has also found that vaccination is no less effective than culling. The real cause of the bovine TB epidemic is not badgers. These beautiful innocent badgers are being made a scapegoat for industrial farming practices. Where dairy herd sizes have ballooned, where you get bigger herds and more intensive farming, you get more disease. The Department of Agriculture admits that killing badgers is not sustainable in the long term due to its ultimate impact on badger ecology. It knows it does not work to control TB. So then why on earth did it slaughter over 7,000 badgers last year, the highest number in a decade? Will you commit today to end the irrational, state-sanctioned cruelty and biodiversity destruction? Thank you, Deputy Catherine.