The union has secured an allowance for Technical Agricultural Officers who are supervising staff under the Department’s programme to eradicate tuberculosis (TB) by the inoculation of the Badger population.

The programme aims to inoculate badgers against TB and reduce the danger posed to the national herd.

The allowance will be paid for 23 months each term and is equivalent to an average payment of €55 per week per member.

Fórsa official Des Fagan said the agreement followed “an almost eight-year battle” to secure an allowance for the duties and comes following a long and difficult road of meeting the members and the Department to finally secure the long promised payment.

Union members who attended a meeting in Tullamore last week also commended the representatives for continuing with the claim through all of the recent difficult periods of Covid disruptions.

One member at the meeting commented that it was ‘a recognition and a success for the union to bring the issue to a conclusion’.