Mr. Ian Scott:

There is a similar system running in the UK and that also refers to Deputy Nolan's question, where we have suitably qualified persons who are regulated and monitored by their own self-financed body. There is a register and everyone on that has to take a certain amount of training per year. They are well connected, particularly on anti-parasitic resistance, and a regulatory body would formalise what is unformalised in how to write and issue a proper prescription for the responsible person. There is also a disciplinary process, which could take somebody off the register, in which case he or she cannot prescribe. One big difference is that with this code of practice in the UK, only the responsible person can advise on, dispense and sell the licensed medicines. Such a person would come into one of Mr. O'Shea's shops, for example, and the only person who can deal with an animal medicines inquiry is the suitably qualified person. It would be the same if we had a regulatory body here for the responsible person.

On Deputy Michael Collins's question about the legal opinion, reluctantly we have been forced to get a legal opinion from both a senior counsel and a solicitor on the matter of whether we can avail ourselves of the derogation. That legal opinion was directly promised to the Minister. It went to him yesterday so it is now in his inbox. We are happy to share it with the joint committee and can send it straight on so that it can be put in front of the Attorney General because it is strongly supportive of all of the matters we have come up with today.