Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I apologise in advance to our guest that I have another engagement I need to go to. The opening statements and the subsequent answers we have heard have been very comprehensive. I have two brief questions. The first is in respect of the evidence we have now heard from the co-op sector, the licensed merchants sector and the pharmacy sector in that the sales of veterinary medical products that fall under the regulations currently implemented across all three sectors, have essentially reduced from somewhere in the region of 60% to 90%.

If I am correct, and this can be clarified, the evidence from the Irish Pharmacy Union is that overall sales have not actually reduced. Essentially there were four sectors, including the witnesses' own three and the vets that dealt with these products. In three of the four sectors, sales have reduced dramatically and in one they have increased dramatically. The question I have is whether the various organisations have raised that issue with the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, or whether they have any intention of doing so because it appears to me that legislation and regulation is actually distorting the market, On the evidence that the witness groups have now, can the representatives say with authority that the new regulations, if implemented in their current guise, would have the same proportional impact in terms of sales across the other products that would be included?