Ms Niamh Muldoon:

Certainly. The Veterinary Council has a number of regulatory tools open to it in respect of disciplinary action. We issue a code of professional conduct to all our registrants. It is binding on every registrant, so every individual, veterinary nurse or vet, is bound by the terms of that code of conduct. Equally, we have a role in education, supervising different programmes of continuing veterinary education and making sure all vets and vet nurses on our register maintain their competence throughout the journey of their careers. There are also the disciplinary aspects.

Deputy Ring referred specifically to complaints. Yes, the Veterinary Council will deal with somewhere between 30 and 40, and sometimes up to 50, complaints a year about various matters. There are very extreme sanctions available to the council if and when there is a finding of professional misconduct of any individual whereby he or she has been found to fall below the expected standards. As for specific examples, I can tell the Deputy that last year, in 2020, four vets were suspended from practice, that is, not allowed to practise for a period ranging from two months to six months. We had three vets suspended for six months and one vet suspended from practice, suspended from our register, for a period of two months. That is the most extreme of sanctions if you consider that, in effect, an individual's livelihood is being taken away. The High Court supervises and endorses the sanctions imposed by the Veterinary Council. Suffice it to say, the council will always act in the public interest in making sure the highest standards are imposed on and expected of all our registrants. It is, in part, one of the elements of ensuring we have such high standards of practice throughout the country.