Mr. Conor Geraghty:

The idea of reducing the use is over-simplified. It will probably end up in a reduction of use as has already happened with antibiotics. The idea is that they should be used prudently and where needed while maintaining refugia and to step away from the old-fashioned practice of blanket treatment by date, where the entire cohort is treated every three, six or nine weeks depending on the product and we end up selecting for resistant parasites on the pastures. Dealing with cattle is slightly different from dealing with sheep. For example, with sheep we maintain refugia by leaving a group of the animals undosed. With cattle it is more about ensuring the pasture has a broad mix of worms and we are able to kill some of the worms on the pastures. That means delaying the dose until the right time.

As to the Deputy's question as to who is best-placed to determine when that is, there is no doubt that many local factors are at play. As vets, we know it is farm-specific. Not all farms are the same. There is an epidemiological element, a stocking rate element, buying policy and it depends on the way the paddocks are grazed. Individual farms have individual needs.