Mr. Tomás Bourke:

As farmers, when veterinary practitioners are servicing our farms, they have been legally required since the start of this year to prescribe all antibiotics on the NVPS. From later in the year, virtually every medicine that will used on a farm animal will be on the NVPS. We know the volume of work and interaction veterinary practitioners have with pets, yet those animals are sailing under the radar. The point we are making is that there are ample opportunities within existing legislation, now that we are under the remit of the Department of agriculture, to tighten up these controls.