Relevant Matter
Public policy or programme
Public Policy Area
Agriculture
Period
1 May, 2025 to 31 Aug, 2025
Specific Details
Bluetongue
Intended results
To highlight that the threat of a Bluetongue serotype 3 (BTV-3) incursion onto the island of Ireland has escalated as the virus continues to circulate in the United Kingdom and across Europe.
That if BTV-3 arrives in this country it will have very serious consequences for farmers in terms of trade disruption, animal health and welfare, reduced productivity as well as potential animal losses.
To request that the Minister for Agriculture, Food, and the Marine and his officials immediately seek authorisation for the use of the BTV-3 vaccine in addition to securing a reserve stockpile of these vaccines within the country. This will ensure that there will be no delay in deploying a vaccine to impacted areas, should an outbreak occur.
To emphasise that, given the seriousness of this issue, meetings of the BTV-3 working group should be convened on a minimum weekly basis. This will help ensure a co-ordinated and rapid response in the event of any disease outbreak.
Name of person primarily responsible for lobbying on this activity
Francie Gorman IFA President, Damian McDonald IFA Director General, TJ Maher IFA Animal Health Chair, Tadhg Buckley IFA Director of Policy & Chief Economist, Tomas Bourke IFA Senior Policy Executive, Donal Callaghan IFA Policy Executive
Did any Designated Public Official(DPO) or former Designated Public Official(DPO) carry out lobbying activities on your behalf in relation to this return? You must include yourself, and answer Yes, if you are a current DPO or a DPO at any time in the past. (What is a Designated Public Official?)
No
Did you manage or direct a grassroots campaign?
No
Was this lobbying done on behalf of a client?
No
Lobbying activity
The following activities occurred for this specific Subject Matter Area.
Designated public officials lobbied
The following DPOs were lobbied during this return period on this specific Subject Matter Area. These DPOs were involved in at least one of the Lobbying Activities listed above, but not necessarily all of them.
As returns are specific to a Subject Matter Area the above Lobbying Activities may be associated with multiple returns.
Brendan Gleeson
Secretary General (Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine)
Brian Purcell
Special Adviser (Department of Agriculture and the Marine)
June Fanning
Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer (Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine)
Martin Heydon
Minister (Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine)