A senior official at the Department of Agriculture says a report has found some vets may feel pressured by farmers not to declare an animal positive for TB.
Superintending Veterinary Inspector Damien Barrett is head of the division responsible for setting policy for the TB Eradication Programme.
A report, which has been submitted for peer review, suggests complacency may have set-in over the consequences of having just a single animal with TB in a herd.
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He will be talking on tonight's Agritime with Sari Houlihan at 7 o'clock on Radio Kerry.
Mr Barrett says the number of cattle testing positive for bovine TB has "essentially doubled in the last ten years":
