Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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Question 391: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food his views on whether the current categories for the administration of animal medicines are helpful to farmers in view of the difficulties arising from the prescription-only medical exempt category; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13829/10]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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Under the European Communities (Animal Remedies) (No 2) Regulations 2007 (SI 786/2007), responsibility for categorising veterinary medicines in one of six mandatory routes of supply rests with the Irish Medicines Board, acting in its role as national licensing authority. Decisions in individual cases are made by the Board on the basis of its assessment of the degree of restriction which is appropriate, following its scientific evaluation of the product in question and taking account of relevant criteria laid down in EU and national legislation.

I believe that the current range of categories is appropriate having regard to the interests of farmers and the need to protect public and animal health. In the most recent review of EU medicines legislation, my Department was to the forefront in seeking to ensure that farmers would continue to have reasonable access to medicines and we were succeeded, despite European Commission proposals to the contrary, in maintaining an 'off-prescription' category for a range of products such as wormers and certain vaccines.

Products assigned to the "Prescription Only (Exempt)" category can be supplied, without prescription, by a pharmacist or by a veterinary practitioner for animals under his or her care. The POM(E) category exists in the route of supply hierarchy to enable IMB, where it considers it appropriate, to assign particular products, which would otherwise be restricted to being supplied only on the basis of a veterinary prescription (POM), to this category. My Department is not aware of particular difficulties with this supply category, which, in any event, must be viewed in the context of the totality of the route of supply hierarchy.