Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses to the committee. What is the Health Products Regulatory Authority's, HPRA, overall view on the use of the licensed merchants? Could the HPRA foresee a way, whether it is through upskilling or attaining additional qualifications, that they could continue to keep hold of their corner of the market. The HPRA opening statement says "Anthelmintic resistance in parasites ... has been demonstrated in European countries which have similar farming and animal husbandry conditions to those in Ireland". Yet, a briefing document that we got from the Department says that it is not aware of any member state that permits anthelmintic veterinary medicines to be supplied for food producing animals in the absence of veterinary prescriptions issued by a veterinary practitioner. Does this indicate that the responsible persons in the licensed merchants are not the root of the problem here? Dr. Beechinor referred to the "Prime Time" programme. Given the recent report that we saw on "Prime Time", which showed the ease with which people can improperly acquire the antimicrobial products North and South, does Dr. Beechinor believe that these new regulations may increase the level of demand for these products on the black market or through unscrupulous practices?