Dr. Paul Corkery:

To let Deputy Carthy know, the driver behind the new regulations is to set a legal footing to acquire the precise data on antimicrobial sales. There are implementing Acts and delegated legislation, that currently we have officials on working groups in Brussels on, precisely on this. We will in the future have it.

I go back to the Deputy's point about reduction in the sales of antimicrobials generally. Every year, the HPRA, together with ourselves, compiles a voluntary survey and feeds it back into the European surveillance on antimicrobial use in veterinary medicine or European Surveillance of Veterinary Antimicrobial Consumption, ESVAC. We found that last year there was a reduction in the overall amount of antimicrobials sold. We have done a lot of communication within the Department and we have communicated the fact that prevention is better than cure.

Vaccines and other measures, such as biosecurity on farms, should be used instead of antimicrobials. It seems that our message is getting through. In our voluntary survey last year, there was a reduction of more than 15% in overall antimicrobial sales. We expect that antimicrobial use will reduce. In response to the question about intramammaries, the prescribing practices of vets and the fact that they can only issue a prescription for animals that they have seen and clinically examined means that the amount that they can prescribe is the amount that is necessary for the treatment of the animal. Previously, a vet would have been able, under the law, to prescribe more than was necessary just in case. The discretion regarding use of antimicrobials just in case has been reduced and it is based on risk. The vet must do a risk assessment about how much antimicrobial medication will be required. That can be followed up on by us and the Veterinary Council of Ireland under its ethical code. We expected that once we hit 29 January, we would see a fall-off, and we have on an overall level, which the Deputy was asking about. We are glad to see that. We will have precise details. We will capture it through the NVPS. I can hand the Deputy over to my colleague.