Dr. Orla Keane:

As Dr. Dillon pointed out, Teagasc did raise a number of issues in respect of antiparasitics in our submission to the Health Products Regulatory Authority, HPRA, task force. However, the issue seemed to be whether we met the requirements of the legislation for the antiparasitics to be exempt from veterinary prescription. There are possibly a few issues to discuss here. The first is that of meeting the requirements. The view of the task force was we did not meet the requirements to be exempt from prescription. I suppose there is a separate issue there as to who could issue a prescription, whether it must be from a veterinary practitioner or whether a responsible person within a licensed merchant could issue that prescription. There are legal considerations there that are probably beyond our remit. We are focused on the fact these drugs are very important for our grass-based production system. We need to look at using them sustainably. Our focus is ensuring, through whatever is the best mechanism, that these products are used sustainably in the future so that they continue to work. There are no new products on the horizon, so we need to ensure they work.