The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA) has called on the government to “side with farmers” and keep the current distribution system for animal vaccines.
The comments follow a meeting this week between the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), farm organisations and other stakeholders to discuss proposed changes under the Veterinary Medicinal Products, Medicated Feed and Fertilisers Regulation Bill 2023.
The Statutory Instrument (SI) of the bill would see significant changes to prescription rules and the route of supply of veterinary medicines, including some vaccines.
Veterinary practitioners, merchants and farm organisations have all raised concerns about the legislation.
ICMSA
ICMSA’s deputy president, Eamon Carroll, said that the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue must “not restrict further the availability of vaccines to farmers”.
He said that the distribution model currently in place allows for the delivery of vaccines to farmers in “an informed and cost-efficient manner”.
“Farmers are fed up listening to department officials citing reports and EU issues to justify positions and decisions that invariably put more cost and inconvenience on farmers – it simply has to stop.
“The minister has the power to maintain the status quo for farmers or he can side with the vets and put more yet cost and inconvenience on farmers. This is the choice,” Carroll said.
Consultation
The ICMSA deputy president said that the current government has “imposed an unprecedented amount of regulations on farmers”,
“ICMSA is calling on the minister to just for once side with farmers and allow them to access vaccines which are already expensive through the options that are currently available,” he said.
Carroll added that the minister’s “idea and misconception of consultation is hugely concerning and frustrating”.
“The vaccine debacle is yet another example of the very poor communication from this government.
“At the very least, we need proper consultation structures that have a chance of delivering outcomes that respect the farmers’ position and treats them with fairness – and not an endless and unavoidable source of margins and fees for everyone else,” he said.