Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The 2005 Act is the hub of why we have brought forward this amending legislation. For the ten years after 2005, the veterinary council interpreted the legislation in a certain way. In 2015 or 2016, it changed its interpretation to allow corporates to buy veterinary practices. Why that happened was the focus of committee meetings during the previous Dáil. The council had a consultation process on the matter. My understanding, as a layperson and not a legal person, is that the Department's view is that it is the role of the veterinary council to interpret and implement the legislation. The purpose of this amending legislation is to ensure that the veterinary council interprets the legislation in such a way as to mean that corporates cannot purchase practices. As I said, that was how it had been between 2005 to 2015 or 2016. There was a change in the interpretation at that time. The Oireachtas committee of the previous Dáil had three meetings that focused on that matter. There was strenuous questioning of the veterinary council. We have discussed the issue with various officials in the Department. The view of the Department is that it is the Veterinary Council of Ireland's role to interpret and implement the legislation as it sees fit. This amendment is to ensure that the legislation is implemented in such a manner as to ensure that veterinary practices stay in the ownership of veterinarians only.

The Deputy asked why should we try to fix something that is not broken. That is exactly the situation. We have an exemplary veterinary service in the Twenty-six Counties. As I said in my opening statement, we saw what happened in Derry when a corporate bought a practice. The level of service dropped straight away. We want to try to ensure that we maintain the level of service we have. We have a tremendous 24-hour service at a reasonable cost to both urban and rural consumers. We want to try to preserve that and that is the intention of this amending legislation.

I earlier made a point around attracting vets into large animal practices. It is becoming an issue in certain parts of the country because vets are becoming very scarce. If we can show the possibility for career progression in large animal practices, that will help to secure vets for those practices, going forward. I cannot answer for the Veterinary Council of Ireland as to why the interpretation changed, but it is a matter of fact that it did change around 2016.