The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture and the Marine will meet tomorrow (Thursday, November 12) when veterinary medicines will be discussed in two separate sessions, from 4:00pm.

The Independent Licensed Merchants Association and Irish Pharmacy Union (IPU) will attend to discuss Article 105(4) EU Regulation on Veterinary Medicinal Products EU 2019/6.

Meanwhile, officials from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine will appear from 5:00pm for a briefing on the same topic.

Controversially, Article 105 states that all medicines for food producing animals including horses are subject to a veterinary prescription.

A “licenced merchant” is a retail premises licenced by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to retail veterinary medicinal products.

It is subject to regulation, inspection and control by the department. There are over 900 licensed merchant premises and over 300 veterinary pharmacists’ premises in Ireland.

The IPU, which represents over 2,000 pharmacies in Ireland, of which over 300 of whom are committed to the supply of veterinary medicines.

Ahead of the meeting, Oireachtas committee chair Jackie Cahill said:

The focus for our meeting on Thursday will be to assess the regulatory challenges and solutions which the Independent Licensed Merchants Association and the IPU propose with respect to the issue of the dispensing of veterinary medicines; these matters impact hugely on the farming and agri sector.

“Furthermore, the input of officials from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine during the second session of the meeting will help the committee to reflect on the contributions received, and assist us as we seek to provide solutions.”