Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. I will focus on one sentence in his response, that is, "Over recent years...the demand for the services of veterinary practitioners across our society has been increasing and most especially in the companion animal area". This is undoubtedly true. However, there has not been any reduction in the demand for vets in large-animal practices. As the Minister of State is undoubtedly aware, given recent controversy, the national herd is the same size. It is no bigger now, but is still the same size as it was 50 years ago. There is, therefore, still the same demand for veterinary practices to service agriculture. The horse sport and horse racing industries are developing and it is hoped to develop them further, so there is a particular demand for vets in that area too.

In that context, we must ensure there are vets coming out of our veterinary colleges and veterinary graduates who are Irish citizens coming back from abroad. Indeed, it is equally the case regarding foreign vets or those who are not Irish citizens and who qualified abroad and are coming here. We have a tendency in medicine to rely on foreign graduates. It would be a pity if we are going to have to rely on foreign graduates exclusively. They are excellent vets and I am not casting any aspersions on them, but we do need to ensure we are producing vets here too.

We must also ensure we are producing vets who want to go into large-animal practices, as opposed to going into research, companion animal and small animal practices. These make valuable contributions to society and animal welfare, but we do have an industry need for large-animal vets. This is why I ask that the UL model be examined. It was specifically geared towards ensuring that medical students had exposure to general practice. Whatever college is awarded the veterinary school, and I obviously hope it is UL because it is the one closest to me, I would hope it would look at UL's experience in developing the medical school because it has helped to get medical graduates into general practice. The other thing about UL is that it is also a graduate school. I know it costs a lot to educate vets. I do not know if the Minister or if the Exchequer are willing to fund the cost of the contribution required in this regard. I say this because if this is a graduate school, then we will not be able to compete with graduate fees in Poland, Czechia, etc.

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