Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Question 462: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food her views regarding the price of agricultural inputs, including medicines here; the way in which we compare to other European countries; if a problem exists, her plans to deal with same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34437/05]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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The most recent statistics on agricultural inputs in Ireland published by the CSO show that agricultural input prices increased by 0.3% in August and the cost of inputs has increased by 4.8% in the 12 months to August 2005. One of the categories within the index of agricultural inputs is veterinary expenses, which includes medicines. Veterinary expenses remained unchanged in August and have increased by 1.6% in the 12 months to August 2005.

EUROSTAT publishes data for the EU 25 for agricultural inputs including veterinary expenses. The most recent complete data are for June 2005 and show that the cost of agricultural inputs remained unchanged compared with June 2004, while veterinary expenses increased by 1.2% in the same time period. According to EUROSTAT, agricultural input prices in Ireland increased by 3.2% and veterinary expenses increased by 1.8% in the 12 months to June 2005, which is the seventh highest for agricultural inputs and 13th highest for veterinary expenses in the EU 25.