Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I have been raising matters related to the issue we are discussing, veterinary medicines, for a number of years. My concern has been that it would damage the rural economy if the proposal not to allow responsible persons to prescribe all medicines were to go ahead. That system has worked well for many years given that the responsible persons were knowledgeable and understood farmers' needs. My colleagues and I in the Rural Independent Group had hoped the Minister would move faster to provide assurances to licensed merchants and would take on board the recommendations in the report of the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine issued last year. It was a pleasure to participate in the committee's discussion, at which there was cross-party unity on this issue and on the need to protect and respect our licensed merchants. My colleague, Deputy Michael Collins, has done a lot of work on this matter in the committee.

The joint committee's report strongly recommended that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine ensure the continuation of the existing network, which includes licensed merchants and veterinary pharmacists, as a recognised route of supply of antiparasitic medicines. However, it now seems that the Government has seen fit to prioritise the views of the EU and the advice of the Attorney General, which was also sought on this matter. This is despite clear evidence that a derogation was possible for agri-merchants. I know from my engagement with the Independent Licensed Merchants Association, ILMA, that in excess of 900 licensed merchants operate in this country, of which an estimated 200 are owner operated, exclusively supplying veterinary medicines and allied inputs, or general farm supply stores supplying a range of other farm requirements, including hardware, feedstuff and fertilisers.

As I said in August 2021, the Department seemed determined to pursue a new regulatory regime that would erode the capacity of the responsible persons to prescribe and sell antiparasitic veterinary medicines. It is difficult to overstate the level of concern that now exists within the agri-merchant sector following the decision of the Department to pursue the regulatory approach outlined in the Bill. This makes a complete mockery of the extensive investigation of this matter carried out by the joint committee and the excellent and balanced report it subsequently issued. It also makes a mockery of the cross-party unity that existed on the committee on this issue. Are we seriously expected to believe the report, which explicitly called for the continuation of the existing network, which includes licensed merchants and veterinary pharmacists as recognised routes of supply of antiparasitic medicines, was somehow reckless in its recommendations or deficient in its insight? It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the Department has simply set aside the solutions on offer in order to pursue and implement a decision that it had already arrived at prior to the beginning of the entire consultation process. When I raised this matter with the then Taoiseach, Deputy Micheál Martin, in May 2021, he stated that he did not want to see a cliff-edge scenario where employment was jeopardised and the rural economy threatened but that is precisely the situation we have arrived at. That is unacceptable.

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