A veterinary prescription should be written by a bona fide vet who is available to do out-of-hours services and have a relationship with the farmer client, Veterinary Ireland has argued.

This comes as Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue plans to sign off on new legislation, which would change where and how veterinary medicines are sold.

A Veterinary Ireland delegation consisting of Kate O’Dwyer, Conor Geraghty and Donal Lynch attended a meeting between the minister and key stakeholders involved in the veterinary medicine dispute last week.

Other concerns brought to the minister’s attention included the sustainability of veterinary practices being able to provide out-of-hours services into the future.

However, livestock director with ICOS, Ray Doyle, said that the viability of out-of-hours vet services has been under pressure for years.

“To cite the recent discussion on allowing co-ops and licensed merchant outlets to sell vaccines as being the sole reason that will finish out-of-hours services in rural Ireland is simply incorrect,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA) has said that whatever decision the minister makes, farmers will more than likely have to bear the extra cost of the changes.