Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 28 September 2022
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine
General Scheme of the Veterinary Medicinal Products, Medicated Feed and Fertilisers Regulation Bill 2022: Discussion
Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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I wish to ask a final question. Perhaps others will go into it in more detail. It is a genuine concern I have in respect of animal welfare as a result of this being introduced. If a farmer does not have a long-standing prescription and encounters an issue, to resolve that issue he or she will have to go through a two-phase process. He or she will have to contact the vet and either purchase the product directly from the vet or get a prescription and go elsewhere. We have heard that if the new regime comes into force, there will be limited competition and therefore prices might increase beyond what some farmers might decide is worth it, as it were. Is that a concern Teagasc shares?