Drug rules will cost farmers €80m, says IFA

New regulations to be introduced by Minister for Agriculture Mary Coughlan, which will require that all animal medicines be prescribed by a veterinary surgeon, will cost farmers up to €80 million per year in additional costs, the Irish Farmers' Association has claimed.

In a statement yesterday, the chairman of the IFA's national animal health committee, Michael Flynn, said the new measures will place an intolerable burden on dairy and livestock farmers while doing nothing to benefit consumers.

He said that in the UK, other professional groups in addition to vets will be allowed to write prescriptions for animal medicines and a similar regime - which complies with an EU directive - should be put in place in Ireland.

Mr Flynn said surveys carried out by the IFA committee had shown that the cost of some types of medicines, which are currently restricted by prescription-only regimes, has increased by 100 per cent to 400 per cent.

"Presently Irish farmers spend approximately €125 million per annum on animal remedies. If competition is removed and market prices mirror what has happened to the price of prescription-only medicines, it is conceivable that farmers will have to pay an additional €60-€80 million per annum for veterinary medicines," Mr Flynn said.

Farmers must be able to access prescriptions from suitably qualified people in addition to vets to ensure maximum competition, he added.

"It is vital that dairy and livestock producers are able to access preventative medicines such as vaccines and wormers etc from a maximum number of outlets possible, otherwise we will reduce our cost competitiveness vis-a-vis our competitors."

IFA national treasurer Pádraig Walshe yesterday said the Minister's proposals were a recipe for "ripping-off farmers" and urged they should be withdrawn.

He suggested that other qualified people such as agricultural consultants, Teagasc advisers and pharmacists could undergo courses to allow them to prescribe animal medicines in addition to vets.

He asked why Ms Coughlan had introduced the proposed new measures and questioned whether the Department of Agriculture had pandered to the "closed shop and anti-competitive mentality" of private veterinary practice.

The Department of Agriculture has said the draft regulations were drawn up following extensive consultation with stakeholders. Interested parties have been asked to submit comments on the measure to the department by September 12th.