Mr. John O'Gorman:

I thank the Chair for the opportunity to address the committee this afternoon. The committee members will be aware that the Irish dairy industry exports more than €5 billion worth of dairy products and ingredients to over 120 countries. It is Ireland's largest indigenous sector. The sector is extremely focused on food safety, the consumer and its reputation as a trusted supplier of safe and traceable foods.

As a responsible and trusted stakeholder, the Irish dairy industry has identified the need to provide antimicrobial and antiparasitic resistance as a key priority for our farmer members. In the past decade, the Irish dairy industry has invested more than €1 billion in processing capacity, routes to markets and in people and systems to ensure compliance and food safety. The co-operative structure of the Irish dairy industry has ensured that it has developed a significant degree of vertical integration with its farmer members and it surrounds and supports them with systems and expertise to deliver on safe and sustainable milk production.

Included in this support is major investment in milk quality, built on animal health including lowering somatic cell count, SCC, levels and reducing antibiotic usage. The current position of the Irish dairy co-ops in the supply chain for appropriate medicines allows them to control and influence the delivery of key priorities. This includes reducing the use of critically important antibiotics which are also used in human medicines, moving towards selective dry cow therapy and protecting and maintaining valuable antibiotics from the development of resistance. For example, my co-op, Dairygold, has destocked critically important antibiotics. In addition, we provide sensitivity testing as a service to our farmers to allow them to identify the most effective drug to treat their animals.

Co-ops have led the national effort in improving milk quality and mammary health through individual co-op mastitis control programmes provided for under Schedule 8 of the current legislation. This has resulted in substantial reductions in somatic cell counts and a reduction in antibiotic use, particularly CIAs. It is essential that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine legislates for the continuation of the co-op mastitis control programme.

We fully accept and understand that we will need to evolve to address new challenges such as selective dry cow therapy. The current routes of supply for veterinary medicines are strategically important to co-ops as a way of ensuring the competitive and safe availability of necessary medicines to our farming members. While co-ops are committed to substantial reductions in the use of animal medicines, in line with their prudent use, the ability to retail them in branch networks is vitally important to that network as it maintains competitiveness in the marketplace.

ICOS is calling on the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to ensure an appropriate balance in this regard. It is essential for the Department to recognise the positive role that the co-ops can play in delivering on shared objectives, such as AMR, when finalising the new legislation for veterinary medicines. Key to this is ensuring a proper definition for any other assessment under Article 105 that allows a holistic approach to herd health planning, supported by data-assisted prescribing for inter-mammary tubes and co-op herd health plans for other veterinary medicines.

As food processors the dairy co-op sector has a vested interest in ensuring that animal medicines are used in a responsible manner in full compliance with legal requirements and best practice. Co-operatives are trusted and reliable partners in the process and are extremely well-placed to help our farmer members to address and prevent the challenge of antimicrobial and climatic resistance. I thank the Chairman and welcome questions from the committee.