Mr. T.J. Maher:

On that question, the national veterinary prescription system, NVPS, is ultimately the answer. With regard to data control and protection, as farmers, it is critically important for us that the NVPS be controlled and monitored centrally because, once we include and involve outside parties, it becomes more difficult to control and manage the data.

The issue of sanctions was raised and it is worth making one more point to the committee on it. There are references to sanctions throughout this Bill. They must be appropriate and reasonable. If a prescriber fails in his duty, the farmer cannot be held responsible. The current regulations on veterinary medicines incorrectly sanction farmers if somebody else fails in his or her duty. It is the responsibility of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to ensure supplier compliance. It is a small point but the Bill needs to clarify that.

Farmers are ultimately the end users of the products covered by this Bill and, as a result, they are the ones most impacted by it. The legislative obligations this Bill establishes will be crucial to farmers. As I have said from the very start, we are absolutely in favour of a reduction in the use of antiparasitics and of their proper use but the supply chains must not put farmers at a competitive disadvantage in comparison with the current position. It is critical for us, as farmers, that the Bill is framed in a way that addresses the issues in a positive and proactive way and delivers on the objectives we have targeted, which are the appropriate use of medicines and ensuring we do not end up with a two-phase operation in this country whereby there is one set of regulations operating North of the Border and another set operating South of the Border. That ultimately looks like the situation the Department is leading us towards if it does not change course.

In respect of the fertiliser sales database, the IFA strongly believes the following key principles should be adhered to: the provisions in the Bill must seek to minimise any additional extra costs and administration being placed on professional fertiliser end users; the Bill must not disincentivise the purchase or spreading of fertilisers at farm level by professional end users; the protection of data and information gathered by the database is of critical importance; and individual farm data on fertiliser usage should be treated with the strictest confidence. That equally applies to the medicines register. We have already gone into that in great detail.