Mr. Bill Cashman:

One can cut costs so far without cutting corners, and cutting corners will always lead to trouble for a professional. We are held to account for professional standards by the code of practice and it does not matter whether we are charging $1 million for an operation or whether we are doing it for free, we must still do it to the same standard. There has to be some dawning of reality perhaps, that we cannot cut costs down to zero.

It would be lovely if everybody got paid but veterinary practices, for instance, have had to endure the same cost-of-living increases in electricity and all the rest of it, and drugs shortages, as everybody else has. We are not complaining any more than anybody else, but it is there. It is a known fact. Our electricity and everything else went up as well, and they have to paid first. The money that is handed over by a client as a fee into a practice is not the income for the vet, because the first thing that has to be paid is the premises and the licensing and then all of the other costs have to be paid. While we are often compared to medicine, the Senator must remember that veterinary first opinion practice is not the same as a medical first opinion practice. Most practices now have digital X-rays, ultrasound machines, endoscopes and blood testing machinery and the tests are done instantly. It is like a cross between a GP, an accident and emergency room, and a hospital, all merged into one. All of those costs have to be paid for, including staff, who also have to endure the cost-of-living increases and who must be paid for as well.

We must also remember there is no such thing as an external aid of any kind for any practice in the country. There is no subsidy. There are no VAT reductions – nothing. Again, I do not mean to play the violin about this, but that is just the reality: the only person who pays the whole cost of veterinary practice is the person who either owns the dog or presents the dog, cat, cow, sheep or whatever. They are the only people who pay.

Even during Covid, the veterinary profession was told it was an essential service. The Minister for agriculture made the statement that veterinary practices were to stay open and that was the end of it. They all left then. There was no subsidy. No PPE was delivered. Practices got on with it on their own. It is one of the proudest achievements of the veterinary profession that it managed a way, on its own, through extended opening hours, harder work, longer hours, people getting Covid and dealing with all of the ups and downs of it, and it was done.

It is very important that it should be kept in mind when we talk about veterinary costs, as against a false impression going out that in some way the public is being gouged by veterinary practices. Many is the time down the years in a different life when we used to find that veterinary fees in farming were always paraded but they amount to between 2% and 5% of costs. I know the Chairman might not agree with that. IFAC, the farm accounts co-operative, did a survey between ten and 20 years ago, which I admit it is a long time ago, but often perception can get in the way of a fact. The Dogs Trust survey is probably the most telling one and it is very up to date.