Mr. Liam Moriarty:

Most people who get into veterinary science really want to be vets and are not just there because they managed to achieve high points. The reality is the cohort that achieves high points may be concentrated - there may be more of a base from Dublin and there are probably fewer people from rural schools. It is largely female at the moment. I think first year in UCD veterinary is 80% female. When they graduate, their intent going in may be to go into companion animal practice or equine practice more so than rural, as a generalisation. We would welcome an alternative system, for example, in a graduate entry programme, other criteria can be examined as well as points. There will be a bar required to get in that will still, academically, be very high, regardless of what is done because it is still an academically tough course to complete.

It does not need to be as high as it is. We need to look at other criteria in the context of intake. We could ask people why they want to do a course and what they hope to do at the end of it. If everybody who comes in says they would like to specialise in small animal surgery, we will know that in ten years' time we will have many small animal surgeons and not enough for cattle. We need to look at why people are going into the profession. Generally speaking, they are very committed bunch.