Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Daly for raising a number of important points. Initially he talked about antimicrobial resistance and intramammary tubes, which farmers are well aware of, having used them on a very regular basis. I take on board the concerns he has raised and am aware of the points that have been made at this committee previously. Like many colleagues, I too have met merchants and businesses that have significant concerns in this area. As I said in my opening statement, this is about us getting the balance right. We definitely do not want to see a negative economic impact but we also do not want to see a negative impact on farmers who have a role to play in the context of prevention.

In terms of antimicrobial resistance as opposed to anti-parasitics, there is a clear difference in prescriptions. An intramammary is an antibiotic, as the Senator is aware and the prescription length for that is five days whereas an anti-parasitic prescription has a life span of 12 months. In many respects, anti-parasitic applications would be planned out by a farmer in the year as a preventive measure rather than as a way of dealing with symptoms.

The Senator referred to symptoms, which are an element of it. An animal might display symptoms indicating it needs a wormer or whatever, but we know that, where cattle go into a shed, dosing for liver fluke can be preventative four or six weeks later. There is a clear differentiation and they are not the same, but I take on board the Senator's points and concerns.

The Senator spoke about legal opinions that had been submitted. The latest legal opinion we have received is under consideration. We are trying to get the balance of the details right. How that works out will be in the final legislation. I accept the Senator's right to reserve his support until after he has seen the final legislation, but there are time pressures to get it in place for farmers. We have also made commitments in that space. We must get the balance right so that this legislation is robust and does what it needs to do. It is in farmers' economic interests that we get this right. Resistance to antiparasitics and so on is not a good thing. In certain parts of the world, particularly sub-Saharan Africa, such is the level of resistance to antiparasitics that ruminants cannot graze. This is a challenge. The drenches farmers are familiar with fall into four groups – white drench, clear drench, pink drench and yellow drench – and there are many products, but if a farmer's animal develops a resistance to one of the four, then it is resistant to all of the products within that group. If human health was so dependent on so few medicinal products, we would be concerned for ourselves. The Senator acknowledged this issue.

We are trying to get the balance right. Regarding the specific point that the Senator raised, we have legal opinion which we are considering.