Dr. Paul Corkery:

I will first address the question about why the UK brought in the SQP prior to the regulation. The reason was that the UK identified resistance in the parasites far earlier than we did. We did not have evidence of antiparasitic resistance for at least ten years after the UK had determined it had a problem with antiparasitic resistance; hence it did what the HPRA did in Ireland, and up-regulated. In that up-regulation, it was decided that SQPs would be allowed to issue prescriptions. Prior to the introduction of the new regulations and prior to the HPRA's report to up-regulate these medicines, any new antiparasitic medicine that was approved within the community had to have a veterinary prescription. In Ireland, a number of antiparasitic medicines have existed for a number of years that have required a prescription, for which a veterinary prescription has been issued, and we have allowed the responsible persons to dispense those.