Ms Niamh Muldoon:

The Deputy referenced the appeal of the veterinary profession. We have a fair amount of information about the number of vets. The shine of the profession has not been impacted and it is as popular as ever. We have one programme of veterinary medicine in the country. Currently, there are 3,175 vets on our register, 28% of whom qualified abroad. There is a significant appeal to the profession and high levels of demand across it, so much so that we see many entrants to our register who have qualified abroad. I will cite a statistic that might be of relevance or interest to the committee: some 55% of people who joined the register in 2020 qualified abroad. We are seeing significant numbers joining our register from programmes of veterinary medicine outside of Ireland. That speaks to the continuing high level of interest in and demand for entry into the profession.