The range of controls currently in place under relevant EU and national legislation with the objective inter alia of minimising the risk of transfer of antimicrobial resistance via the food chain can be categorised as follows: authorisation procedure for veterinary medicines – applicants for marketing authorisations for individual products are required under relevant EU pharmaceutical legislation to address the issue of potential transferred resistance in the extensive application dossiers submitted to regulatory authorities – in Ireland the Irish Medicines Board – in accordance with the current state of scientific knowledge. In addition, marketing authorisations issued in respect of each medicine include a mandatory post-treatment withdrawal period in order to protect consumers from exposure to residues above scientifically acceptable levels, i.e. maximum residue limit; prescription rules and record-keeping – the rules in place in Ireland governing the prescription by veterinarians of antibiotic treatments and the record-keeping requirements imposed on farmers are on a par with the strictest in the EU; residue surveillance, under the national residue plan, which is approved by the European Commission, Ireland carries out extensive testing to detect the presence of antibiotic residues, the results of which are released annually and are available on the Department's website; self-monitoring, within the past two years my Department has required processors to draw up, in line with Department criteria, and implement their own annual residue monitoring programmes, the results of which are available to the Department and in relation to which it takes an over-seeing and audit role.
Notwithstanding the measures currently in place, we cannot afford to be complacent about antibiotic resistance given the potential serious implications for public health and also our farming systems. Much work remains to be done at scientific level in order that we may fully understand the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria and the part played by antimicrobial treatments, human and veterinary, in this regard. I have fully supported those strategies adopted at EU level in the framework of the Agriculture Ministers Council to address this threat. At national level, my Department has also been active, in co-operation with the FSAI, through an extensive programme of testing in the poultry sector for the presence of antibiotic residues and also for the presence of antibiotic resistant bacteria. The results of this exercise, once completed, will be assessed, in conjunction with the developing state of scientific knowledge generally, to determine what further actions may be necessary.