Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Independent)
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71. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide for a veterinary school to be located in the University of Limerick; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15779/23]

Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Independent)
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Will the Minister share with the House any plans he has to develop a veterinary school at the University of Limerick? Will he make a statement on that matter?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for the question. As she will be aware, the HEA is close to concluding a process to identify where additional capacity could be built in the higher education sector in a number of key areas, including veterinary medicine. As part of the process, the HEA is examining opportunities for new programme provision as well as the expansion of current programmes, and will determine a final list of options, which I expect to receive shortly. The HEA appointed an expert advisory panel to review new programme proposals. The panel included representatives from the Veterinary Council of Ireland, the statutory body responsible for the regulation of veterinary medicine in Ireland, and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

The Deputy will understand that before making any determinations regarding where a new school or additional places might go, my Department needs to receive that HEA report and consider the options and recommendations arising from it. On receiving recommendations from the HEA, which I expect to receive shortly, I will engage with my colleague, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, to consider how best to take this forward.

The process is independent. There has been a lot interest and competition from different parts of the country to host the new veterinary school. However, I have yet to receive the recommendations of the HEA and I want to respect the fact that it is an independent process. It would, therefore, be inappropriate for me to comment on any particular institution. It is great that there is so much interest and that we have gone beyond the point that it is all about one veterinary school. There is now an acceptance that we need to expand in this space. It is utterly wrong that so many Irish students are going abroad, often to parts of eastern Europe, to study veterinary medicine. We can do more and better here.

I am also conscious of regional issues in the context of this matter. I am conscious of the importance of having enough vets to work with larger animals, farm animals and the agricultural sector. As a Deputy and Minister, I regularly hear about that requirement. We will get the report shortly and that will tell us how Limerick has done as part of the process.

Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Independent)
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I thank the Minister for his response and for all the information he has outlined. I appreciate what he has said about the independent process and waiting until the report arrives. For the past five decades, veterinary education in Ireland has been delivered in the one school in UCD. It does not reflect the wider picture. As the Minister mentioned, the school is too small and the course is highly competitive. There is very little scope to expand the number of available places at present. Only one in four vets who are registered in Ireland was educated in the veterinary school in UCD. The other 75% were educated abroad. As I speak, approximately 500 Irish students are studying to become vets in eastern Europe because they cannot get a place here.

According to 2020 figures from the Central Statistics Office, CSO, there were nearly 6,000 cattle farmers, 605 sheep farmers, 40 pig farmers and 250 people farming poultry in my constituency in Clare. It is important that the veterinary school is brought to the region. I met with the team and examined the proposal, which seems excellent. The proposal accounts for cross-Border education, which is the way forward for all of our universities and colleges.

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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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.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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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.

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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We also need uniform accreditation across the island. That is important.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I share the Deputy's view.

Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Independent)
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I recently attended a community engagement with the ESB in Kilkee at which the board laid out its plans for future developments in the Green Atlantic project at Moneypoint, and potential offshore development in the Shannon Estuary. I am proud of the part that west Clare will play in the just transition and I thank the ESB for sharing its exciting plans. The most important thing is that when these developments are green-lit, we will keep the jobs in the local community, as was the case as far back as the building of Moneypoint. I am seeking a commitment from the Minister that he will work with the universities and further education institutions in the region to ensure they are adequately resourced so we can have as many fitting technician, maintenance and engineering jobs as possible as a result of this local development. The west is very much awake, and nowhere is that more true than on the beautiful west coast of Clare. I am constantly hearing from young people in the area that what they want is a sustainable career that will allow them to come home and build a life in their communities when they graduate.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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After County Wicklow, west Clare is one of the most beautiful parts of our country. I take the Deputy's point. I also take the point about the importance of our regional and technological universities. One of the reasons we have put such a focus on making sure we have university capacity outside of the big cities is for balanced regional development and to provide the opportunity for local communities to try to harness the potential of relatively new industries, new jobs and where that will bring us in the future. I am conscious that in the Deputy's county, Ennis is now a university town. County Clare is now a university county, which we could not have said a number of years ago. We need now to ensure we work with the regional and technological universities to ensure they are providing the courses to equip the workers who may be required for offshore renewable energy work. I am pleased to say that work is under way in that regard, both with our technological universities and ETBs. My Department is supporting a number of initiatives to meet the skills needs for the green transition, including through springboard courses and the human capital initiative. I will send the Deputy a note on the issue.