Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Ms Muldoon for her opening statement. The major problem is the shortage of large-animal vets in rural and, in particular, peripheral areas. What is the Veterinary Council doing to address that in the immediate, medium and long terms? That a veterinary practice is a legal entity is not an issue for us. Rather, it is about the availability of vets and what the Veterinary Council is doing in respect of education. How much communication does the Veterinary Council have with University College Dublin and the other education providers to ensure that a sufficient number of large-animal vets are available?

How many vets are needed, given the number of large animals in the State? Are they mapped geographically to ensure a proper geographical spread? What is the Veterinary Council doing about qualifications, the number of leaving certificate points required and the pathways to qualification? Is the Veterinary Council aware that SUSI grant aid is allotted to vets who train abroad but in their final undergraduate year or while studying for their master's degree, they cannot secure funding? Why are so many large-animal vets leaving practices? I wish to learn what the Veterinary Council is doing to address these issues because we are going down a route similar to that relating to a lack of priests in some areas. We need to take tangible steps. Some might say vets are much more important than priests but I will not get into that argument. Nevertheless, we need to address the matter. Farmers in places such as that from which I come from in Belmullet and elsewhere in County Mayo need certainty. Due to the additional requirements for herds that are now made and so on, they need to know that an affordable vet will be available to meet their needs in order that they can continue farming in the way they need to.