Paul Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses to the committee.

I get it. I am with the witnesses and I see where the HPRA is coming from in that its role in the whole system is really the product demarcation or whatever, in conjunction with the EMA. The Department has to look at the issue at hand, which, from an anti-parasitic point of view, has boiled down to the question of whether medicines are prescription or non-prescription. If medicines require a vet prescription, then where do the licensed merchants, etc., fit into the equation? There has been an outcry from the farm organisations, the merchants and others in respect of where we are going with this. The witnesses' deliberations this evening will help to inform those who will make the decision or formulate the policy, whereas it may not be their definitive role.

With that in mind, I ask Dr. Beechinor to elaborate a little bit more on the findings on the task force report. I will cite some sections of the report and he can confirm whether what I say is true and elaborate on my points. Would it be true to say that in the HPRA's assessment, 28 farms were assessed out of a total of 140,000 farms in Ireland, where some limited anti-parasitic resistance was found? I ask Dr. Beechinor to elaborate on that.

It is also stated in the report that while there is anti-parasitic resistance on a European-wide basis, the only place that the actions taken have resulted in a reduction of resistance is in Scandinavia, where the action taken was a decoupling of prescribing and providing. Perhaps Dr. Beechinor could comment on that. In the other parts of Europe, where the policy adopted was veterinary prescription, the anti-parasitic resistance has actually remained on an upward curve. I would like a comment on that also.

In conclusion, based on the task force report, it was recommended that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine consider elaborating the system for veterinary prescription of anti-parasitic medicines where support for evidence-based prescribing is available. It was asserted that professionals who are able to offer an evidence-based assessment should be prescribers. Would that not include suitably qualified persons in a licensed merchant situation?

I am aware that I am concentrating specifically on the anti-parasitic resistance element. I acknowledge what Senator Boyhan has said. I am aware of the one-health approach, but I am also aware of the fact that an anti-parasitic resistance is not going to affect human beings. I do not want to sound flippant. However, it is vitally important for good husbandry and animal care of the farmer and those who are responsible for animals. I would appreciate it if Dr. Beechinor would elaborate more on the points I have raised, which are nearly all taken from the task force report.