Almost eight months ago now, during Leaders' Questions, I raised with the Taoiseach the concerns of, and the number of specific and critical threats facing, the agricultural merchant sector.

This sector employs more than 10,000 people across rural Ireland. In many villages and towns where there are little or no employment opportunities, we are fortunate enough to have these agricultural merchants. In my constituency of Laois-Offaly, we have many agricultural merchants who provide an important source of employment for a large number of people. We are fortunate to have agricultural merchants such as John Grennan & Sons in Kilcormac and Rath and we have Midland Veterinary in areas like Tullamore, Edenderry and Portarlington. These are towns that are badly affected by unemployment. That has been the case for decades. It is very important that our agricultural merchants sector is protected and that we do everything possible for it.

Unfortunately, a number of threats are posed to the agricultural merchants sector. One of these is an EU requirement to come into force in January whereby all veterinary medicinal products, including antiparasitic drugs, will only be dispensed on foot of veterinary prescriptions. In addition, an EU directive which allowed for the exemption and maintenance of non-prescription status in respect of some products is to be scrapped. When I raised this matter eight months ago, the Taoiseach stated that he did not want a position to develop whereby people would be rendered unemployed as a result of the application of this EU requirement. Unfortunately, we are eight months on from that commitment and the likelihood of job losses has gathered momentum.

Agricultural merchants have engaged throughout the process constructively and in good faith by means of a multisectoral forum but they are increasingly of the view that the entire consultation process was never going to do anything but deliver a predetermined departmental outcome. This is despite the fact the veterinary director of the Health Products Regulatory Authority has clearly stated that when it comes to the prescribing of antiparasitic drugs, agricultural merchants are "not the root of the problem" and that licensed merchants have made and continue to make a valuable contribution in this area. The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine and his Department have made it clear, however, that they have no intention of changing their interpretation of the regulations for prescribing antiparasitic medicines. This is despite widespread condemnation from farmers, farming organisations, horse owners, pharmacists, licensed merchants, co-operatives, MEPs and the Joint Committee on Agriculture and the Marine.

The new regime, if allowed to be introduced, will effectively eliminate the category of "responsible person" from the list of those allowed to prescribe these medicines. This is completely unjustified. What is the Taoiseach going to do? This is going to have a serious impact on employment and on the 140,000 beef and sheep farmers who will be disproportionately affected.

As I have said, this matter relates to the transposition of an EU directive, which is an obligation on all member states of the Union. As the Deputy knows, a stakeholders' group has been established and the Minister is engaging with it with a view to dealing with the issue of antiparasitic and antimicrobial resistance while maintaining competition in the market and keeping costs down for all concerned. There are safety and animal health protection dimensions to this as well. For example, Ireland is still the only country in Europe that does not require prescriptions for antiparasitic treatments. That is the reality.

We want to get a solution that will enable the sector to continue to provide its valuable services to farmers the length and breadth of the country. This is a very important sector in the context of employment. Across regional or rural Ireland in particular, it provides valuable employment. We are very conscious of that. We will do what has to be done in order to ensure a level playing field across this country and put in place a framework that will fulfil our obligations under the directive without imposing additional undue burdens on the businesses concerned, the sector or the farming community. A balance must be struck between animal health and safety and the safety of food for human consumption.

These are important and serious issues that cannot simply be ignored. The transposition of a directive imposes obligations on a state and the Minister is working with the stakeholders' groups to try to get a resolution to this issue prior to the deadline, which, as the Deputy says, will commence next year.

I thank the Taoiseach for his response but I want to point out that responsible persons within agricultural merchants, of whom there are 1,600, are highly skilled and agricultural merchants have invested heavily in ensuring that they have training. They are skilled people with knowledge and expertise and they are also farmers. They know their livestock and animals better than we can and do give them credit for. I am saying that not to reach a fair compromise in a constructive manner would be ignoring the voices of farming organisations such as the Irish Farmers Association, IFA, the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association, ICMSA, the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association, ICSA, and our farmers and agricultural merchants, which have all voiced their opposition to this measure. They are the experts and they know how rural Ireland and farming operate.

We need to engage constructively and to reach a fair agreement and constructive solution to ensure that no job is lost because, for instance, we cannot afford to lose any jobs in the midlands. There are no jobs being created under the just transition and I raise this matter for a second time because it is so important and we need to make sure there is a fair and workable solution and that the 10,000 jobs across this State are protected.

As I said, the Minister is committed to reaching a constructive and fair resolution of this issue that intends to try to maintain employment within the sector, as well as ensuring we can fulfil our obligations and keep costs down for all concerned, particularly those in farming who avail of such services. We understand that fully, we understand the issues and we are committed to doing that. As for the just transition, jobs are being created and will be created in the midlands from just transition in retrofitting, in the rewetting of bogs and in a number of other developments. We intend to put together a series of measures, which are already under way, to illustrate that point. It is extremely important under just transition that the funding that has been allocated is brought to fruition in the variety of projects that have received funding. Those projects must be brought to fruition quickly and create jobs on the ground.