Appointments to the Advisory Committee for Veterinary Medicines (HPRA):

The Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill TD has with the consent of the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, appointed the following members to the Advisory Committee for Veterinary Medicines (HPRA) with effect from 29 January 2026 until 28 January 2031.

John Lynch, MSc

Mr. Lynch is a pharmacist by qualification and former HPRA Director of Inspections and Compliance for more than 20 years. This role included the conduct of GMP inspections, audit and licensing activities across human and veterinary medicines, good clinical practice and pharmacovigilance, medical devices, blood, tissues & cells and organs for transplantation. Also included with the role are sampling and analysis of medicines, quality defects and recalls, export certification, controlled drugs licensing, unlicensed medicines, cosmetics and enforcement of legislation.

John has previously represented the HPRA on the GMP inspection working groups at the European Medicines Agency and European Commission. He has also been a member of the Committee of Officials of the Pharmaceutical Inspection Co-operation Scheme (PIC/S).

Professor Paul Whyte

Prof Paul Whyte graduated from UCD in 1992 with a BSc (Hons) in Industrial Microbiology. He then completed a master’s degree in food science in the Faculty of Agriculture, UCD in 1994. Following this, he moved to the Veterinary Faculty in UCD and commenced studies as part of a PhD programme developing and applying HACCP-based food safety programmes within the Irish poultry sector. He was awarded his PhD in 2000. Following a period working as a Senior Research Associate he was appointed as College Lecturer in 2002 and is currently Professor of Veterinary Public Health & Food Safety. He is a member of the Centre for Food Safety and the Institute of Food and Health in UCD. His research interests include prevalence and molecular characterisation studies for a range of microbial foodborne pathogens, including Campylobacter, Listeria, Salmonella, verocytotoxigenic E. coli and other microorganisms in food animals and foods of animal origin. He has also worked on the application of both chemical and novel non-thermal physical technologies for the decontamination and control of zoonotic pathogens in food animals and meat products. He is also interested in the development of rapid diagnostics for pathogen detection in animal and food matrices, antimicrobial resistance and molecular investigation of virulence markers in zoonotic agents. He has extensive experience in the design and development of Longitudinally Integrated Food Safety Assurance and HACCP Systems within the Irish Agri-Food Industry, in particular in the poultry sector.

Professor Conor McAloon

Professor McAloon qualified as a veterinary surgeon from UCD in 2011. He worked in mixed practice in Strabane, Co. Tyrone before returning to UCD in 2013. In 2016, after completing a residency and certifying examinations in bovine herd health, he was recognised by the European College of Veterinary Specialisation as a Specialist in Bovine Health Management. He is also currently recognised by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons as a Specialist in Cattle Health and Production. In 2017 he completed a PhD on epidemiology and control of Johne’s Disease in Irish dairy herds. Currently he works as a clinician and lecturer in Bovine Health Management in the School of Veterinary Medicine, UCD. Conor currently divides his time between clinical work, teaching and research. He is interested in all aspects of cattle health, production and welfare, and is actively involved in research in dairy calf pneumonia, Johne's disease, surveillance, epidemiology, welfare, antimicrobial use and biosecurity.