Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree with Deputy Conway-Walsh that we need more capacity. If I did not believe that, we would not have included veterinary medicine in the review. We need more capacity. She is also right that whichever institution is selected, or wherever additional places might be made available, we need institutions that can deliver. The key to that is the role of the Veterinary Council of Ireland, which is the regulator. My Department can provide places but the educational offering must satisfy the needs of the industry and the professional body. That is the role of the Veterinary Council of Ireland, and I am pleased it is involved.

The Deputies are right that there are far too many students going abroad to study veterinary medicine. Until recently, people would have told me there were enough places for the study of veterinary medicine in Ireland while all these students are going abroad. The note I have, which was sourced from media reports, suggests that 208 Irish students are enrolled in the veterinary medicine masters programme at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences and 78 Irish veterinary students are enrolled at the Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences in south-west Poland. The total number of Irish veterinary students in Poland is in or around 300. Slovakia has attracted some students and Budapest has approximately 190 Irish veterinary students. I expect to receive the report very shortly. We will work our way through it with the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and I am happy to update the House when I receive it.

See this speech in context