Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for that update. We eagerly await the HEA recommendations on this matter. I am a bit concerned that we might start reinventing the wheel. The facts are there. Some 500 Irish students are outside the country studying veterinary medicine at the moment. It is important not to go backwards but to go forwards. We need this issue to be addressed as soon as possible. We need a new veterinary school. The situation cannot be tweaked. We also need an all-island approach. We need an institution that has the capacity to deliver what we need in terms of food security and large animals, and to meet demand across the western seaboard and elsewhere. We must ensure the higher education institution that is chosen has the capacity to attract the world-class expertise that can be attracted to a veterinary school. I look forward to the HEA recommendations immediately after Easter. We must get going on this and get it sorted.

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