Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 28 September 2021

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

General Scheme of the Veterinary Practice (Amendment) Bill 2021: Discussion

Photo of Jackie CahillJackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is up to the committee to decide what other witnesses it wishes to call. This is my Private Members' Bill that is receiving scrutiny here. If members feel we should invite other stakeholders to appear before us, that would be a decision for the committee.

The Minister was a member of this committee when this issue raised its head in the previous Dáil. He saw the issue at first hand so I would be hopeful that he will give this Bill his backing. I have already discussed it with him and am confident that he will support it. My understanding is that this Bill will go back to the Business Committee once this committee has finished its scrutiny of it. The Business Committee will decide when the Bill goes back to the floor of the Dáil. Obviously, that is outside my remit but I hope it will progress as quickly as possible. If it is to be implemented and to work, time is of the essence. From what I am hearing, there is general agreement at this committee that we need to do this to protect the exemplary service we have, and to protect public health and animal health and welfare, and that this Bill is an essential amendment to the 2005 Act. If it does not happen quickly, the horse will have bolted and corporates will have acquired practices they want. As has been said by others, they are not going to go out to a peninsula, be it in Kerry, Connemara or west Cork. They are not going to be in a rush to acquire practices there but what if the practices are in Bandon, in my own county or in large urban centres?

That is where they will go and those are the ones they will acquire.

Mention has been made of what happens the practices that have already been purchased. I am not a solicitor or legal person but I think the onus would be on the Veterinary Council of Ireland to sort that out. It changed its interpretation of the present legislation. The onus will go back on the veterinary council, which regulates the veterinary profession. If we clearly show ownership at present is not in accordance with legislation, the onus will come back on the veterinary council to sort the issue out. We had vigorous exchanges on this in the last committee in the last Dáil. If the amendment is reinforcing the heretofore interpretation of the legislation, the onus will be back on the veterinary council to rectify the situation. Whatever implications that has, it will be on the veterinary council to deal with them.

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