Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 29 March 2022
899. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if farmers are allowed to hold some veterinary medicine products such as mastitis tubes on-farm under new veterinary regulations and those due to come into effect later in 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16600/22]
View answerArticle 105 of EU Regulation 2019/6 on veterinary medicinal products and the Veterinary Council of Ireland’s Code of Professional Conduct outline the circumstances under which veterinary medicinal products can be prescribed.
From January 28th 2022, it is a requirement for a veterinary practitioner to justify the need for medicines he or she prescribes using his or her professional judgement.
In the case of antimicrobial veterinary medicine products, including 'mastitis tubes', all of which are Prescription Only Medicines, a veterinary practitioner can prescribe a small quantity of antimicrobials to be kept on farm where the practitioner has judged there to be an essential need for treatment of an individual animal or a limited number of animals, when the risk of infection is high or the consequences of infection are likely to be severe.
The responsible use of veterinary medicinal products in an essential component of efforts to reduce anti-microbial resistance which poses an increasing threat to the effective treatment of illness in animals and people.
