Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Carthy for raising those points. A central tenet that the Deputy leaves out of the points he is putting forward is the change in approach from an EU level to antiparasitics - the up-regulation. In European law, the default position is that veterinary medicinal products, VMPs, for food producing animals require veterinary prescription before they can be supplied. However, Ireland has historically availed of the derogation criteria, Article 34 of Regulation 2019/6 in EU law, which allowed for VMPs to be supplied without a prescription as there is no evidence of resistance to these products or environmental damage associated with their use.

Our knowledge of these products have changed following the 2019 report from the Health Products Regulatory Authority, HPRA. The HPRA is the national competent authority, as the Deputy will aware, which determines the route of sale of veterinary medicinal products. The report concluded that VMPs that are intended for use in food-producing species do not comply with the criteria for derogation from veterinary prescription specified in law and evidence now exists that, with regards to environmental demand and growing anti-parasitic resistance, these products need to be supplied under prescription. The criteria for the derogation by which antiparasitics did not require veterinary prescription no longer exist and, therefore, the requirement for a veterinary prescription for these products exists regardless of the introduction of Regulation 2019/6.

I got a bit technical there but it is to make the general point in response to the Deputy that the regulations have changed. Mr. O'Mahony may want to come in on that specific point.