Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is outrageous and reckless of the Department to try to pursue such an agenda. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine should be standing up for farmers and rural Ireland. Rural Ireland is on its knees. I do not know if any of the officials is from rural Ireland but I can assure them that businesses there are struggling to keep workers on their payrolls. Farmers cannot take any more financial burden. It is absolutely reckless. I support Deputy Fitzmaurice's view that the Department needs to go back to the drawing board and work with everyone on this in order to protect jobs, protect rural Ireland and not place another burden on farmers.

A point was made in respect of the derogation. I understand that this derogation can be sought and should have been sought in 2019. It was stated there was a legal opinion on the derogation. What was this? What stopped the derogation? Did it prevent the Department seeking the derogation in 2019?

The EU confirmed in a written reply to vets their rights to prescribe as follows. As a rule Regulation (EU) 2019/6 gives a veterinarian exclusive right to prescribe veterinary medicines. However, Regulation (EU) 2019/6 provides for a derogation to that general rule in its article 1054. This contradicts the Department's assertion that only vets can write prescriptions. How do the officials respond?

I understand that if the regulations are brought in by the Department that they will wreck rural Ireland and overburden farmers, causing job losses but that they will also be in breach of EU Directive 2019/633. What is the officials' response? It is very serious that they would be so reckless with this. I cannot understand it. Farmers have a very good relationship with their agricultural merchants which has always worked well. If it is not broken, why fix it?