Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

If we could take a step back, the purpose of all of this is to reduce the overuse of antibiotics, antimicrobials and antiparasitics so that we do not have a build-up of resistance and that we do not have antibiotic resistance or antiparasitic resistance. As a farmer and, maybe more importantly, as a consumer, I greatly welcome that. However, how do we achieve that end? The Minister's second point about the decoupling of prescriptions and dispensing was that it cannot be for the economic benefit of one group over another. I agree with that, but the purpose of all of this is not economics. It is about animal health and, by extension, human health, and making sure that we do not have antibiotic resistance either in animals or in humans as both would be equally worrying.

Rather than looking at the economics of the situation, we need to look at - I do not have this information but I am sure that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine does - the extent of the use of antibiotics and antiparasitics in Ireland, as well as how that fits in with international, particularly European, trends. The use of medicines is far more prescribed in Europe and there is a greater consciousness of not overusing animal medicines than there might be, perhaps, in other parts of the world, such as South America or Australia. Hence, we hope to continue to be able to provide a higher-quality product.

On that basis, I ask that the Minister's Department continues to look at this decoupling of prescriptions from dispensing so that we do not have these large conglomerates that employ veterinarians, rather than the old way, where every village and large town had a family-run veterinary practice. This is also so that we do not end up with a corporate model that controls the prescription and the dispensing of medicines, which would be very negative for health, as opposed to the economy of our country.

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