Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome all support and allies in making the case for increased capital for the higher education sector given the difference the Deputy and I know it would make to the regions. I am not satisfied that so many young people are leaving the country to study veterinary medicine abroad. It is a disproportionately high number. We see in the number of people registering on the Veterinary Council of Ireland register every year how many of them have been educated abroad. The overwhelming majority of new entrants to the register each year are educated abroad. We have to be able to do better. This country is proud of its agriculture and agrifood sectors and our regions. Our higher education sector has put up its hand and said that whether it is SETU, the Atlantic Technological University, the University of Limerick or more than one university, we can do more and better. I will be putting our best foot forward in agriculture, with the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and in healthcare, with the Minister for Health, to make the case in the NDP review for driving some of these projects forward.

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