Mr. Finbarr Murphy:

One of the big dangers here is that most practices in Ireland are mixed and do not just cater for small animals, as is the case in the UK with its large urban populations. The experience in the UK is that the lay corporates tend to regionalise the service, particularly the out-of-hours service. That will certainly not suit the dairy or beef industry in Ireland. In the dairy sector, the calving season is so concentrated in Ireland that having one practice doing out-of-hours service or an entire region will not work. I share the Senator's concern over rural and remote areas. This will have a major impact throughout the country because of the nature of veterinary practice in Ireland and the experience of the lay corporates in concentrating on the more profitable aspects and letting go the elements of the service that are not as profitable.

Vets are obliged to provide a 24-hour service, but that is under the code of professional conduct from the Veterinary Council of Ireland and not under the principal Veterinary Practice Act. If the corporates are involved, unfortunately the Veterinary Council of Ireland cannot regulate them. If the lay owner, the corporate, decides it will not provide an out-of-hours service, the council has no way to enforce the issue and ensure the 24-hour service is maintained.

Regarding manpower, it is difficult to attract vets into large animal mixed practice at present for many reasons. Small animal work is much more profitable with less requirement to be on call. The Department is recruiting vets to cover certification requirements as a result of Brexit, which is taking vets out of practice into Department roles. It is making it more difficult for existing practices to attract new vets. Those issues have come together.

Senator Paul Daly asked if we could do anything to help with the crisis in getting vets to enter large animal practice. Enacting this Bill is one of the most important steps to prevent the problem becoming much more serious and to prevent the lay corporates from providing the services.

I am sure we could do other things with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine such as looking at the on-call arrangements and getting better co-operation between practices, larger partnerships and having vets co-operating better together. In remote areas we could incentivise the out-of-hours service, as is done for other professions, including in general practice. That may be necessary in certain peninsulas and remote areas. One of the findings of a Veterinary Ireland survey was that in order to be able to retain vets, they need to be paid properly and have a reasonable work-life balance, which is partly achieved by having a better on-call rota. We need to work jointly with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to address those concerns.