Paul Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses to the second half of the meeting. Some of them have been here before and we have been dealing with this for the past two years. The committee did a report on the veterinary medicinal product side. The fertiliser regulations were added to the Bill and they are coming in together. From the veterinary medicine side, we did a report previously and even had some of the witnesses in previously.

We heard recently from the merchants, such as the Independent Licenced Merchants Association, ILMA, the Irish Co-operative Organisation Society, ICOS, and the Irish Pharmacy Union, IPU. The veterinarians are in next week and we have heard from the Department. Today, it is important for us to hear the farmer’s advice in how both parts of this Bill will ultimately affect the farmers and what changes they would like see, if possible, within the Bill.

I welcome all of the opening statements. Like everyone else who has been here previously, ourselves included, there is nobody arguing about the need to deal with antimicrobial or antiparasitic resistance. Everybody sees that and is well intentioned that this needs to be done. It is about the “how” - the most effective way to do so - without jeopardising farmers’ incomes and livelihoods. In particular, two issues seem to have come to the top of our agenda through our previous deliberations. From the veterinary medicine side, the word we are getting loud and clear from other witnesses we have had in previous weeks is that antiparasitics becoming prescription-only medicines could well be the death knell for the merchants, in particular, and many of the co-ops. Part of the ambition of the regulation would have been to enhance the availability of veterinary medicinal products, however, we are hearing it will actually have the opposite effect to that. Already with the antibiotic side of things, the merchants and co-ops will say that the prescriptions are not filtering through to them. We had people here who put on the record that their sales of intra-mammary are down 90% since they became prescription only.

It is important to hear the farmers' voice on that. A number of issues have come up, the most pressing of which is still outstanding. It relates to the fertiliser regulation part of the Bill. I refer to the Border issue and how that may be handled. The Border was also a strong player in our conversations on the veterinary medicines. The Border issue is linked with the burden on the farmer. We have heard the potential problems that could be faced by the pharmacists, the merchants, the co-ops, the vets and the Department officials. We want to hear how this Bill, if it goes through in its current format, will affect the farmers. What role have the representative bodies played to date? Have they had much or any consultation with the Department on either of the two topics included in the Bill? I think I have asked enough questions to keep the guests talking until the other members come back.