IMB XMAS BREAK!

The IMB will be closed from Tuesday 24th December through 1st January 2014. New and amendment applications must therefore be submitted to the IMB no later than 5pm on Wednesday 18th December 2013 if they are to be validated for assessment before Christmas. Applications submitted after this date will not be validated for assessment until January 2nd, 2014. Please note that the IMB closure times are classified as " clock-stopped days".
Other IMB Announcements:

• Electronic versions of the application forms for submission of details on applications for scientific animal protection are now available on the IMB website (www.imb.ie > Veterinary > Scientific Animal Protection > Publications). Either the standard version or the Adobe versions may now be used to make an application.
• The legally-required Non-Technical Project Summary reports in respect of new projects that have been authorised by the IMB are now being published routinely to the IMB website (www.imb.ie/EN/Veterinary/Scientific-Animal-Protection/Authorisations-/Nontechnical-project-summaries.aspx). The first batch of the reports, covering the period January to June 2013, was published in early October. The next batch, covering the period July to September 2013, will be published in January 2014, and thereafter on a quarterly basis, in arrears.
• The IMB met with the Department of Health in late October to discuss the implementation of the legislation on scientific animal protection. The IMB used the meeting to relay stakeholder concerns on

                     a. the impact of the proposed fees on their operations,

                     b. the requirement for IMB to become self-financing,

                     c. the requirement to start collecting fees from 1 January 2014.
The Department acknowledged the concerns and asked the IMB to relay them formally in writing. However, the Department stated that in the face of the current economic situation it was not hopeful that it could deviate from the stated budgetary provisions

• The IMB is preparing a Guide to Application Fees in respect of the operation of the fees for project applications to be submitted during 2014. This guide is expected to become available once the Department of Health has given its sanction for the fees over the coming weeks.

• The IMB will shortly take over the role of the Department of Health with regard to the collection of statistical data on animals used in scientific animal protection during this year. A further update on this matter and more details of the requirements and format of the data will be made early in the New Year.
• The IMB hopes to update some of the current guidance notes on Scientific Animal Protection over the coming months in order to incorporate advice given in the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document on our website and to incorporate other needed changes. The goal is to eventually remove the FAQ document in favour of an extensive suite of guidance documents. You should consult the IMB website for the very latest documents.