Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

That is okay. Let us consider a farmer with a herd of five, ten or 15 suckler cows in the west or in any other part of Ireland. A farmer with 50 or 60 sheep will be affected more. Say a vet comes to do a herd test for me once a year and I tell the vet that I give them a fluke dose either before or after they go out in June or July and another two weeks after they have come back in. On the day of my herd test, can I get all of the dosing for fluke and worms? Can I get all of that, or a prescription for all of that, when I explain to the vet my pattern each year? Can I get a prescription that day or will I have to go to a vet on different occasions and get a piece of paper? I am not talking about pneumonia drugs or anything like that. I am talking about fluke and worm doses and Clik Pour On, to which our guests referred earlier. I am talking about the run-of-the-mill stuff I need during the year. Can a vet give me those prescriptions on the day of a herd test? Why was it not brought in that the vet had to give it compulsorily?

There is an awful problem arising here that our guests do not see. A farmer could be going to the co-op or the local merchant to get their dosing material. There is an embarrassment involved here that if someone does not get it from the vet, they will be looking over your shoulders. Whether we like that or not, that is the way it is. Farmers are now being driven into a corner because they have to get these products from a vet and, in many cases, at much dearer prices. Is a farmer entitled to get all the full pattern of what they need for the year on the day of their herd test, if they want it?