Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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I wish to ask the Minister about the veterinary college and the situation with vets in the country. He will know that at the moment we only have University College Dublin, UCD, and from memory there are around 80 places there. We have a huge shortage so we find ourselves with hundreds of students having to go abroad every year to train as vets. Meanwhile, and we talk about workforce planning, we have serious situations particularly for large animals in rural Ireland where we do not have the vets to meet the need that is there. I know there are a couple of new colleges being talked about but could the Minister update us on that? I also know that there is currently no veterinary college in the North but there is also one being talked about in the North. I know I have sprung this on the Minister but I would really appreciate it if he could give me an update on it and see how we can progress the proposals that are there.