Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses. I do not know whether I agree with anything that has been said so far. Last Saturday morning, I had the opportunity to be in one of the wholesalers that under the current regulations can sell these products. I was shown products which have come online in recent weeks, which now state on the packaging they will be prescription only medicines. Even though the legislation has not changed, the packaging for these products has already changed. Companies have assumed the legislation is coming on board and are packaging the products for it. We need to talk about this. They have moved ahead of us and have said what is happening here is null and void and the change will happen anyway, and the companies are packaging appropriately. Have the witnesses come across this? I came across it last Saturday morning.

The debate we are having on resistance is very important. We have to clarify what is happening in the dairy industry itself. The vaccination programmes in the dairy industry for infectious bovine rhinotracheitis, bovine viral diarrhoea and leptospirosis have greatly reduced the use of antibiotics throughout the industry because of their effectiveness. We need to acknowledge the major work we have done in this regard when we are having this debate.

One of the issues I have heard is that we need to look at dates when dosing will take place and the weights and amount per animal. Will we have a vet in the yard telling us an animal is 600 kg? Is this a practical solution to what we are proposing? I realise a plan could be put in place whereby we could have a pasture management plan of rotating animals in front of bigger stock. When it comes to the practical implications of what is being proposed with regard to the weight of animals and the amount per dose, are we saying a vet could have a better handle than a farmer on judging the weight of an animal? Will we be weighing every animal in the crush for the dose? This issue needs to be thought out with regard to how we will deliver it on the ground.

What happens if this fails? What happens in five years' time if the microresistance project we are embarking on totally fails? What is plan B? What will the Veterinary Council of Ireland propose? Will the Department have to take it on board? Will we go back to the Teagasc advisers with a Teagasc programme put in place? If this is to be the golden bullet for our problem, that is fair enough, but do we have a plan B? Have we spoken about it? Have we asked what happens if this fails? Where will we go with the programme then?