Peter Callanan (Fianna Fail)

I join Senator Coonan in welcoming the Minister, Deputy Coughlan, to the Seanad to carry out the business of the State. I welcome the presentation of the Bill and I commend the Minister for bringing forward this important legislation. I commend her predecessor, the former Minister, Deputy Walsh, for the work he did in preparing the Bill, which has taken some time to produce. Given that it is produced, I hope it will be passed as quickly as possible and that it will not hang around for a considerable time.

It is self-evident that the 1931 Act needed to be upgraded. It is not revolutionary in the sense that it is not totally new legislation. The functions of the new body are to continue, update, improve and upgrade existing structures.

The Minister referred to the provision for the first time in legislation of a legal definition of veterinary medicine. This is essential as it is not included in the 1931 Act or any amendments made since. The Minister also mentioned a broader membership of the reconstituted Veterinary Council to reflect interests such as education, consumers, food safety and animal welfare and to provide a better balance as between veterinary practitioners and others. I will have something further to say about this. It is essential that we have a broader spectrum on the council as it is time consumers had a direct role in food safety and animal welfare matters because they and what is available to them as food are our concerns.

The Minister went on to say the legislation would provide for an updating of the provisions dealing with registration and recognition of particular specialties in veterinary practice. The world has moved on, science has advanced and new technologies and techniques are in practice. It is, therefore, essential that this area be modernised and upgraded. The Bill will also provide for continuing professional development, a pre-requisite for retention on the relevant register. This, too, is essential. It will provide for a new model to deal with complaints and a broader range of proportionate sanctions.

We are conscious and aware of consumers and users of services. We also realise that people complain, for whatever reason, valid or invalid, to relevant bodies and authorities. They also write to Ministers and the media, for example, RTE. Dr. Charlie Bird, whom I congratulate, gets involved too from time to time.

The Bill will provide for the first time for statutory recognition of veterinary nurses. This is welcome and a matter on which I will have more to say. The Bill also provides for the establishment and monitoring by the Veterinary Council of standards for veterinary premises. This is essential. The Minister, Senator Coonan and I come from rural Ireland and know there has been substantial investment in veterinary premises in recent years. While many premises are sophisticated and modern, some still need upgrading. The Minister has allowed a specific period of time for this to be done.

The Bill provides that the Veterinary Council will be given investigative powers commensurate with its regulatory role with regard to the profession. This is hugely important as we have seen what has happened in other professions. We heard in the Seanad recently about people offering relief and cancer treatment. While I know the veterinary area is not related, the regulation of both sectors is similar. It is essential that the Veterinary Council is given the proper powers to regulate the profession. The Minister referred to persons who should not be engaged in veterinary practice and mentioned penalties ranging up to €130,000. A line should be drawn through the words "up to". This should be mandatory as it is time such activities were weeded out of all professions. The penalty must be written firmly into the legislation.

I would never underestimate the importance of the role played by the veterinary profession in the agriculture and food industries. Vets are active in a range of areas, for example, in the provision of advice for their farmer clients on how best to manage a myriad of diseases on their farms, as inspectors on behalf of the State in meat factories, and in research in public and private bodies. We must also recognise the significant role played by local authority vets. It took some time for local authorities to appoint these vets who do exceptional work, never more evident than during the BSE and foot and mouth disease crises. We must recognise the role they and general practitioners played. We should also recognise the leadership given by the chief veterinary officer, Mr. Rogan.

Veterinary practitioners generally and in the Department and council play a pivotal role in the control of the spread of disease and in ensuring the quality of the product available to the consumer. The central issue concerns consumers and what is available to them. We must recognise that vets have done their duty well. When the call to arms came, as with Senator Kerry who said he was "here to serve", they were ready and did their duty.

By virtue of their status, vets enjoy a privileged position, particularly when it comes to the prescription of medicines administered to animals. Not least because of this, it is crucial that their actions are open to scrutiny and, where appropriate, effective sanction to ensure high standards are maintained. For this reason, I welcome the new disciplinary procedures provided in Part 7 of the Bill. I fully accept that the code of practice contained in the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1931 no longer meets current requirements in regard to proportionality, transparency and so on. Clearly, the provisions involved need to be updated in line with developments in this area in recent years, particularly with regard to the principles of natural justice which must receive serious consideration as people make complaints for any reason nowadays. It is easy to blame "X", "Y" or "Z" and write a letter of complaint but we must be conscious that this could take a person's good name.

The revised model of fitness to practise provided for in the Bill will serve the profession well in the years ahead. The procedures provided for will enable the Veterinary Council to facilitate those who wish to do so to present complaints in a correct fashion. The composition of both the preliminary investigation committee and the fitness to practise committee, being composed of equal numbers of vets and non-vets, will help to guard against allegations of professionals closing ranks against ordinary members of the public. I also welcome the inclusion of an external chairperson with legal expertise on the fitness to practise committee. In an increasingly litigious era, I expect the inclusion of such expertise will lessen the tendency for expensive court actions following a decision.

As I am dealing with the preliminary investigation and fitness to practise committees, I will comment on the composition of the council. The Bill introduces a balanced membership with an independent chairperson. It will comprise two vets and two others. Like Senator Coonan, I am concerned by the reduction in the number of vets on the council. I had some knowledge of the organisation for a period of time and know how it functions. Council members make a significant input. I never saw it as a case of "them and us". The predominant factor in and overall interest of its function and role were to do the right thing.

The previous council had a total membership of 17, 12 of whom were vets. The provision in the Bill creates space. I agree with this and commend the Department on including this provision. However, reducing the number of places to seven places an enormous workload and burden on its members. This burden will not be borne well if vets have to leave their practice without recompense, other than expenses, to come to Dublin for meetings. For example, if a fitness to practise or preliminary investigation committee meeting is taking place, two vets will have to give a significant amount of time to it. The issues of not attending, leaving or changing dates of meetings are covered in the Bill. They create problems for vets. There is scope for more generosity. I would throw in my hat and say "Nein". While I will not submit an amendment, I urge the Minister to return to the Department and in her common sense and intelligent manner examine what I have suggested. Veterinary surgeons have work to do. They must leave their places of work and attend various meetings where they give good service to the totality of the community. I am not asking for majorities on the council but for possibilities where work can be well done. This is not the first time I have mentioned this matter. I have been saying it for a considerable period of time.

It is also vital, given the potentially serious consequences to the livelihood of the person complained against, that his or her rights be fully protected. Every person is entitled to his or her good name until the contrary is proved. The processes and procedures provided for in the Bill strike an appropriate balance in this regard and, in the final analysis, the person who is subject to the inquiry has access to the High Court. However, the regime will ensure justice is done and seen to be done and litigation will be the exception rather than the rule.

On another issue, I believe Senator Coonan was guilty of a misunderstanding and I cannot agree with what he said. I am afraid I did not make a note of precisely what he said so that I could expand on what I wish to say on the matter and I apologise for that. However, we will have another opportunity to debate the point.

I welcome the statutory recognition of veterinary nurses, as I am sure everyone does. The Government has spent between €20 million and €30 million on the new veterinary college in Belfield. This is a significant investment by the State. However, as the Minister has said, it is education and not bricks and mortar which achieves results. We must ensure high-quality people are available to us, from abroad if necessary.

Our first batch of approximately 20 veterinary nurses qualified this year. Establishing them in an independent role may not be to their best advantage or to the advantage of the profession and the community. A veterinary surgeon certifies the health status of cattle being exported. He or she is legally responsible for the health of an animal in his or her care. A veterinary nurse who is practising independently of a veterinary practice could be brought onto a farm for a specific reason totally unknown to the veterinary surgeon who will be charged with the responsibility of signing his or her name to a certificate. The best way for this to operate is for veterinary nurses to be linked with existing veterinary practices. A veterinary surgeon need not be present for all procedures but someone must be responsible.

Does existing law allow a veterinary nurse to administer an anaesthetic? Currently, all anaesthetics are classified VSO, for use by a veterinary surgeon only. Furthermore, the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland code of practice lays down specific guidelines for the licensing and use of X-ray equipment in veterinary medicine which is at variance with section 92.

I have raised issues which are of concern to me. With some common sense and a slightly different approach, the Bill will be enacted very smoothly. I thank the Minister for coming to the House.