Mr. Colm Forde:

I am happy to answer that. I repeat that we have not refused to carry out a regulatory impact assessment. We have committed to publishing findings on the impact this regulation will have on the different stakeholders. I am happy to follow up with the stakeholders on that. I do not understand how that misunderstanding arose.

I would like to make an important point about the situation when the regulation was agreed. If the HPRA task force report had not been issued, these products would still be available without a veterinary prescription. There would have been no change in the process since officials from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine negotiated this file. Nothing would have changed. Irish law has not changed in this respect. The only thing that has changed is our knowledge of the impact of antiparasitic medicines.

The committee has asked what departmental officials were doing at that time. The EU regulation is entirely consistent with our previous legislation. If there was no evidence of resistance to antiparasitic medicines, they would still be available without a veterinary prescription. My veterinary colleague, Ms Caroline Garvan, may be able to tell the committee a little bit more about the HPRA task force report and its findings. The law has not changed. Perhaps we have not made that clear enough.