Antimicrobial resistance is a serious global health challenge, and a high priority for my Department. Taking a One Health approach together with the Department of Health and the Environmental Protection Agency, my Department has developed national action plans to mitigate the risk of antimicrobial resistance from a public health, animal health and environmental perspective (iNAP 2017-2020 and iNAP2 2021-2025).
These action plans outline the strategies and actions necessary to tackle the challenge of antimicrobial resistance - many actions are already complete and others are underway.
Completed actions specific to the animal health sector include publication of codes of good practice in relation to responsible use of antimicrobials in the dairy, beef, sheep, pig and poultry sectors. These guidelines provide advice in relation to antimicrobial stewardship and steps to optimise animal health. All of the seventy actions currently being progressed in iNAP2 serve to address either directly or indirectly the environmental spread of resistant bacteria or their mobile genetic elements.
To identify knowledge gaps and prioritise research needs, a gap analysis was carried out in 2021 in order understand the research needs on the environmental dimension of AMR. The role of wildlife as potential reservoirs of resistant bacteria is being considered as a research project to better understand and address any potential risks for the farming community.
