Mr. Michael Sheahan:

Like my colleague, I thank the committee for the invitation to attend here this evening to discuss the topic of the new school of veterinary medicine in Ireland. While the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine is not the lead Department in relation to matters to do with third level education, we do have a significant interest in having sufficient availability of veterinary practitioners to provide services in Ireland, so we have significant skin in the game when it comes to veterinary graduates.

The role of vets has probably been discussed in the earlier session.

Vets play a crucial role in society through their work in animal health, animal welfare and food safety. In Ireland the work done by vets underpins much of the valuable and important agrifood sector, a sector that this committee will be aware had exports of over €15 billion in 2021 and which employs around 170,000 people. Vets work to ensure that the food we consume domestically and that we export to 180 countries is safe and is produced to the highest standards. Vets are the guardians of animal welfare, which is increasingly important in society and they play an important role in relation to antimicrobial resistance. Increasingly, vets are working in a cross-disciplinary way with medical and other colleagues with a "one health” approach that recognises that the health of humans, animals, plants and the wider environment are closely linked and interdependent. The Covid-19 pandemic and antimicrobial resistance are two very topical examples of where a “one health” model is increasingly recognised as being the optimal way to approach such global problems.

Outside of the agrifood sector, vets play a very significant role in relation to companion animals. Pet ownership has grown very significantly in Ireland in recent years, as in many other countries. We have a springer spaniel in our family and it would be fair to say that our pet is very far up the pecking order in our house. The role of vets in safeguarding and enhancing the health and well-being of our pets is something that we all value.

There is little argument about the value of vets in society for health, economic and many other societal reasons. The demand for vets across society has been increasing, especially in the companion animal area over the past four or five years. The number of veterinary practitioners on the veterinary register is at an all-time high and is currently of the order of 3,300. In recent years, a significant number of Irish students have travelled abroad to veterinary schools in different parts of Europe, particularly Poland and Hungary, where English-language veterinary courses are available. While students may wish to travel abroad to study for many reasons, it seems reasonable to explore whether extra places should be available in Ireland in critical sectors such as veterinary, in order that these students would have the option of studying in Ireland rather than having to go abroad. Many of these veterinary students are returning to Ireland after graduating and are working as vets in Ireland. I am sure the committee got detailed statistics on this from our Veterinary Council colleagues. Despite the increasing number of vets on the veterinary register in Ireland, concerns have been expressed about the availability of veterinary practitioners to provide services to the large animal farming sector, in particular, in some parts of the country. This is an issue not just in Ireland but in many countries throughout the EU and the world and is one that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine continues to keep under review.

In 2018, the Department commissioned an evaluation of the availability of vets for the farmed animal sector, the results of which were published in 2020. The results showed that in general terms, Ireland compares favourably with other European countries in terms of the number of veterinary practitioners per 1,000 inhabitants, with 0.43 in Ireland, compared to 0.41 in the UK, 0.29 in the Netherlands and 0.29 in France. However, the study did signal that certain parts of rural Ireland face challenges, with relatively few practitioners operating in some peripheral areas. Based on anecdotal evidence as well as several studies published in Ireland and elsewhere, it appears that the retention of veterinary practitioners within the profession is contributing, in part, to some of the difficulties being experienced. The Department is in the process of updating the study published in 2020 and we expect to publish the updated version before the end of June.

The Department has been happy to support the expressions of interest process that the Higher Education Authority, HEA, commenced in October 2022. The recommendations from the HEA have been provided to the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science and discussions across Government are continuing. We look forward to continuing to engage in a constructive and collaborative manner on this issue over the coming period.

As has been mentioned earlier, the number of vets on the register has increased significantly, by somewhere in the order of 25% since 2017 and a considerable number of Irish students are going abroad to study veterinary medicine. However, despite the increase in numbers, it seems that demand has outstripped supply. In that context, it makes perfect sense to explore the possibility of having more veterinary places available for students in Ireland and this exploratory process is now under way.