Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Okay. I thank both sets of witnesses this evening. They gave a very comprehensive representation of the issues this legislation presents. The IPU has been very clear about the important role it plays, especially in rural areas, in the dispensing of antiparasitics.

I wish to put on record as Chairman of the committee that we can summarise the current position as follows: the ILMA, together with the ICOS, put a recent proposal to the Department, which is supported by legal opinion, regarding the role a responsible person can play with regard to the prudent prescribing of antiparasitics, which the Department is considering. We all welcome this and hope it can bring a resolution to a situation we all recognise is critical to this Bill and needs to be resolved.

The witnesses have made it clear that unless we get a common-sense solution here, the whole purpose of the Bill will be defeated. The representative groups have put their points tonight very comprehensively. As Deputy Cowen said, it is now up to this committee to go back to the people in charge and see that we get a common-sense resolution to this. I can very clearly see the common sense both sets of witnesses have presented this evening. I thank them very much. We will now suspend the meeting to allow the witnesses for the second session to enter via Microsoft Teams.