Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 29 March 2023
Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Veterinary Medicinal Products, Medicated Feed and Fertilisers Regulation Bill 2023: Committee Stage
Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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We will get to that in a minute, Deputy. As the Minister mentioned, some of us have been doing a lot of work with him and his officials and the stakeholders. The Minister has given commitments here that he will bring an amendment forward on Report Stage, if necessary. Most important, he has said we will get the opportunity on Report Stage to debate it and that no guillotine will apply. This committee has compiled a report and this issue was the focal point of the report, where we made recommendations to the Minister. I know the Minister has taken the recommendations on board and he has clearly stated that he is committed to finding a solution that will allow merchants and co-ops to operate their businesses with as little hindrance as possible from this legislation. I welcome the Minister's comments and I hope on Report Stage we get the solution we all want. We want resistance in the animal herd to be reduced but we also want a Bill that will allow competition for these products to be unhindered. No one will have a monopoly on the sale of products and the availability of products we have at the moment will continue. We are all very much in favour of achieving the aspirations of the Bill. Reducing resistance for both animal and human health is essential. We have had a good discussion and I appreciate the work the Minister is doing to achieve the solution we all want.