Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

This Topical Issue was originally put down by Deputy Nolan. I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to pursue this in her stead given she could not be here due to unforeseen circumstances. I thank the Minister for coming here in person. None of us are too reluctant to criticise the fact that a senior Minister does not come in to answer Topical Issues so when the Minister is here, I would like to thank him for the fact he is here.

Over a year ago, the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine looked at this issue and the changes that may or may not be required by EU law with regard to the prescription of veterinary medicines, in particular antiparasitics. Up to now, Ireland has enjoyed a derogation, as did the UK, with regard to the prescription or sale of antiparasitics as opposed to antimicrobial medicines through merchants. A number of them are in operation across the country, including Clare, and play a vital role in the supply of animal medicines. There has been a particular need for antimicrobial medicines this year. I am not a veterinarian but I say as a farmer that there has been a problem with fluke and worms this year and this is something many farmers would acknowledge.

The majority of farmers will have gotten medicines from a merchant until now. That avenue has been closed off, perhaps because of the European Union law. My understanding, based on the evidence given before the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food, and the Marine, was that the European Union introduced a regulation on that matter, whereas the United Kingdom entered a derogation to that in 2014. For whatever reason, we did not enter a derogation. There are some who would suggest that was because veterinarians had a greater sway in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine than, perhaps, merchants did. For whatever reason, we did not enter a derogation at that time. We could have done. It was the practice. A member state was allowed to enter a derogation, but we did not. Of course, it does not matter anymore in the United Kingdom, and I will come back to that in a minute. Up to 2018, we could have entered a derogation, but we did not. Now it seems that at the time the matter was before the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food, and the Marine, the advice from the Attorney General was awaited. However, it seems that some clarification has been obtained that it is no longer possible to enter a derogation nor is it possible to retrospectively regularise the situation in Ireland for the purposes of entering that derogation. If possible, the Minister might provide some clarity on that. The fear is that we will see a potential monopoly of supply in veterinarians, in circumstances where there is an increasing number of veterinary practices being bought up by commercial entities, rather than operating separately. Two or three weeks ago, Deputy Jackie Cahill introduced a Private Members' Bill in the House on that matter.

This is a very real fear. The purpose of this is to ensure the separation of prescription and dispensing. By seeking to pursue that, we might achieve the exact opposite: a monopoly, where large conglomerates that own veterinary practices have a monopoly on both dispensing and prescription of animal medicines.

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