Mr. Conor Geraghty:

It is essential to know the prescription is not a service. The prescription is the result of a service. It is an outcome. The outcome to the service might be no prescription, if no dosing stuff is required. The system at the moment is that anthelmintics, dosing stuff, and other products for lice and mange etc. are non-prescription medicines. A farmer can decide what to use, when to use, and how often to use it. These products had been prescription-only under regulations dating back to 2005. We have seen since 2007, a derogation in Ireland because there was no resistance in 2005 and that was allowed ride until the HPRA, rather than Veterinary Ireland, decided it was no longer possible to enact that derogation. There have been many published studies by the Department and Teagasc on the rise of anthelmintic resistance in Ireland, which we are seeing on the ground as Mr. Gavin mentioned earlier.

The idea of bringing them in as prescription-only products is not to allow vets to sell them. It is to ensure that before a farmer makes a parasite control plan or decision on his or her farm, he or she will converse with his or her vet and look at the best approach to control parasites. This may not only be through the use of chemicals. It may be through pasture management, delaying treatment or targeted treatment, or treating a subset of the population to minimise the effect of this resistance, which is growing.

This can be done in many guises. The idea is to get away from a farmer deciding on a Saturday morning to dose cattle that day but rather to take a more planned approach that can be discussed with the vet in advance. Out of this service we envisage a prescription would be furnished. I am not saying the service would be free but I do not believe the prescription is a red tape service that will just attract a fee without any of the other aspects also.

As a result of this, we will have less product used and better bang for our buck. We have countless examples of money being wasted on these products at wrong times or for the wrong disease. We will also get better thriving. Overall, if we embrace this properly, vets can help farmers make better decisions. As it is today, these products will be available for sale in all of the outlets where they are available at present. It will be a conversation for each farmer and his or her vet. I do not believe vets will have a hold over farmers. History has shown the opposite is more often the case.