Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move: “That the Bill be now read a Second Time.”

I am pleased to be allowed to present the Veterinary Practice (Amendment) Bill 2021 to the Dáil. The urgent need for this amendment to the Veterinary Practice Acts 2005 and 2012 has arisen because the Veterinary Council of Ireland made significant changes to its code of professional conduct regarding the ownership of veterinary practices in 2017. The Veterinary Council of Ireland appeared before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture and the Marine, on 21 May and 24 September 2019. Its presentations to the committee on why changes were made to the code of ownership of veterinary practices were very unsatisfactory.

As a result of these presentations, and following consultations with all stakeholders involved, I deemed it necessary to bring forward this amendment to reinforce the original legislation, which was not specific on the ownership of veterinary practices and without which regulation of veterinary antibiotic and antiparasitic use, and other activities such as TB testing, animal welfare, etc., cannot be regulated. It is imperative that the legislation is clear. I stress at this point that if veterinary practitioners do not own practices, it is impossible for the Veterinary Council of Ireland to regulate them. This is a public health issue.

On 14 December 2017, the Veterinary Council of Ireland deleted four sections of the code and one new section was inserted.

The amendment Bill brought forward today is focused on that. That decision was not in the interests of public health. In cases of lay ownership it is impossible to regulate veterinary practice, which leads to inherent dangers for the consumer. Lay ownership of practices has clearly been shown in other countries to reduce greatly the availability of 24-hour services. We have seen that in Derry, where a corporate took over a practice, and in the lack of services in neighbouring Donegal. It also has been shown to be cost prohibitive and, as a direct result, will have a major impact on animal welfare as animal owners will not be able to afford the cost of what will be charged by corporates for a 24-hour service. The cost of services for consumers in both urban and rural areas will significantly increase, with a reduced service, as has proven to be the case in many other countries. Urban practices are more financially attractive than rural ones. They will be cherry-picked by lay operators, who will make decisions that will not be in the interests of animal welfare for rural or urban consumers. This will lead to a reduction in services, and increased costs will be the inevitable consequence.

A survey in January 2018 showed that 86% of veterinary practitioners were in favour of retaining ownership of veterinary practices. All these were members of Veterinary Ireland. Another survey in October 2020 showed that 80% were in favour of only veterinary practitioners being allowed to own veterinary practices. Some 77% of veterinary practitioners who responded to the survey said lay ownership would be bad for the public. Lay ownership makes it impossible for the Veterinary Council of Ireland to protect human health and animal welfare.

I wish to make a number of points to emphasise that this amendment is essential. Monopolisation by corporate bodies will lead to a narrowing of competition, an increase in fees and a reduction in credit terms to the public. Twenty-four service throughout the country will be compromised. Inefficient, out-of-hours cover in rural areas and significant increases in fees for the provision of services will have a direct impact on animal welfare. The experience of the UK corporate model suggests the discontinuation of large animal veterinary services on a 24-hour basis. Cherry-picking of profitable services and clients, with a significant emphasis on urban areas with a large number of small animal practices where they have the ability to increase the profit margin significantly, and discontinuation of voluntary work in agricultural shows, point-to-points and the care of injured wildlife will all be consequences of corporate ownership of practices. There will also be the discontinuation of participation on a voluntary basis on State bodies and committees.

Veterinary practitioners employed by corporate bodies will be constrained to use only drugs and services of virtually integrated corporate groups that own pharmaceutical companies, laboratories, referral hospitals and crematoria, which will compromise their professional discretion. They will be required to work to protocols established by corporate bodies to maximise returns. Investigation and treatment regimes will be dictated by management to maximise profits. This will compromise ethical standards. Corporate entities will be driven by the need to return profits to their investors. It will lead to a deprofessionalisation of the profession. The future generations of veterinary practitioners will have limited opportunities. At present, large animal practices are having great difficulty attracting newly graduated veterinary practitioners, and if the opportunity to purchase practices is denied to these young practitioners, this will become even harder. Newly graduated veterinary practitioners would see entering large animal practice as an unviable financial option. Without the opportunity to purchase and buy into practices, current and future generations of graduates will choose a different career path. In the long term it will result in a lack of professional motivation and, therefore, a fall in professional performance.

We are very fortunate to have excellent veterinary services in our urban and rural areas at a reasonable cost to the consumer, with the highest ethical standards prevailing. The Veterinary Practice (Amendment) Bill 2021 will ensure public health and animal welfare remain priorities and veterinary practices can be enforced and regulated. This amendment will be attractive to young, newly graduated veterinary practitioners, as they will see career progression for themselves in both large and small animal practices. This is essential to attract young veterinary practitioners into this part of the industry. Most importantly, the Veterinary Council of Ireland will be able to regulate veterinary practices successfully, which will ensure public health and animal welfare standards are protected and maintained. This is my reason for bringing forward this amendment. I believe it is essential to ensure the high ethical standards of our veterinary practices are maintained and protected.

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