This is a subscriber-only article
Concerns have been raised over the effects of the incoming changes to veterinary medicine law on merchants’ workload and farmer privacy.
The Irish Farmers Journal queried co-ops and vets on their opinions of the changes signed into law by Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue.
From June 2025, merchants will need to be given a veterinary prescription to supply antiparasitic medicine to farmers while it is planned that from 13 January, all such prescriptions will have to be completed through an online recording system.
Although the measures were implemented to curb the resistance of such medicines in Irish livestock, some vets are worried this will change the relationship between some vets and farmers.
Four vets agreed that there needs to be more clarity around the “proper assessments protocol” to make sure farmers are receiving adequate cover.
Tullamore-based vet Donal Lynch said that vets employed by co-ops might not be held to the same standards as those working in practices as a result of the new rules.
“Once I am your vet, I have to commit to being available for your out-of-hours service, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including Christmas Day.
“The co-op vet has to commit to that as well but only in relation to products they have prescribed. “We don’t want a double standard where you can have one who can prescribe but doesn’t have to come out to you on Sunday and another vet who does have to,” he maintained
A Kildare-based vet also questioned if the electronic prescription system would be a breach of farmer/vet confidentiality.
The legislation allows the Government to receive more data to monitor the administration of medications on farms.
“They want to bring in the National Veterinary Prescription System (NVPS), which is totally not a reflection of what EU legislation wants. It’s gone into the Big Brother realm,” they said.
“The Department will have visibility of every single prescription and all my client data.
“There’s no doctor’s surgery that would allow this information to be visible.”
Resistance
Meanwhile, each vet queried believed the mandatory online system and the lack of competition would add to their workload. Due to many farmers and vets dealing in credit, this can put more financial pressure on vets waiting on larger payments from farmers, they warned.
“Most vets won’t be able to carry that level of credit, and still be able to pay their suppliers on time.
“Equally, the dairy farmer doesn’t get a decent milk cheque until March, so he can’t suddenly start paying in a different fashion to how he normally did,” the Kildare vet added.
A spokesperson for a veterinary retailer said that the way the legislation is written, it might put some companies out of business.
“It probably eliminates all the competition in the market because it won’t be possible for any of the non-veterinary retailers to stay in business.
“Generally, when there is a monopoly, the price of a product increases very significantly, so there will be an increase in cost to the farmer.”
Limerick vet
However, a Limerick-based vet disagreed. They felt there will still be competition between different vets and vets working for co-ops. “There is plenty of competition anyway. Prescriptions won’t break this system.”
A number of co-ops said they are also concerned about the financial impacts that the changes will cause, such as less farmer footfall in their shops.
A spokesperson for a Wicklow co-op said farmers will miss the social aspects of buying these medicines.
“If they can buy it from [the vet] when they get the prescription there, why would they come up here?
“Farmers love the chat at the counter as well. You might miss that side of it.”
In addition, a store manager for a north Cork co-op said similar measures before have lowered revenue for the business.
“Hopefully it won’t impact us too much. When prescriptions came in for the anti-inflammatories and the dry-cow tubing, that definitely did impact our sales, took a lot of business away for those products.”
Dosing
“The farmers, in general, they don’t overdose heifers. A lot of farmers I’m dealing with for over 30 years, they’d prefer if they didn’t have to dose, if they could get away with it.”
SHARING OPTIONS: