Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, to the Chamber. It is great to have him here. My Commencement matter this morning concerns the potential and capacity in the veterinary sector. We have one veterinary school in the State. It has been in place for more than 100 years and University College Dublin, UCD, has done a phenomenal job during that time. What I wish to debate today, though, is building capacity in this sector. We have a veterinary industry which has served society competently over the last 100 years, but we must change our approach concerning how many veterinarians we have in our State. This aspect must be examined. Our agricultural industry has changed completely. It is a global performer when it comes to veterinary husbandry and how this sector operates. We also have a major small practice element now, which was not traditionally present. Unfortunately, as well, our vets are getting older. The age demographic of our population of vets has changed significantly in the last two decades. We must change our approach in many ways in this area, therefore, and try to get more vets into the system.

As the Minister of State is probably aware, 82 places were allocated to study veterinary medicine last year. Under the Central Applications Office, CAO, applications process, ultimately 601 points were required to get a place on the course. That is a significant threshold. The course was chosen by 581 people as their first choice. This shows the interest that exists. We had 500 disappointed applicants. There is significant interest, particularly among younger people, in studying veterinary medicine. The capacity for the number of places required does not exist now. Unfortunately, because of this lack of capacity, as the Minister of State is very much aware, 70 students are now doing first-year veterinary medicine in Poland, while another 30 students are undertaking such studies in Hungary. We do not have the figures for England and Scotland. Overall, however, we have hundreds of students studying this course abroad. This alone shows the need for a second veterinary school here. We must explore thoroughly how we can accommodate this potential in the sector.

As an active farmer and a member of the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, vets tell me about the deficiency in the numbers in their profession every time they come into the yard, as well as the need for change and more vets to go through training. Ireland offering only 82 places to study veterinary medicine is a significant barrier to the development of the industry. It will also impact how small practices are going to develop. Our major worry is that the large animal practices will really suffer. This will be the significant driver in this area. More people will be attracted to the small animal practices than to the larger ones, and this will have a significant knock-on effect on our credibility as the premier food-producing nation in the world.

This is, therefore, a major problem and for this reason we must move to act fast. There is potential in the system to have a second veterinary school. I mention Munster in particular in this regard because there are many bovine, pig and horse units in the province. We have so much potential down there. A second veterinary school there would be a counterbalance to what we have in the UCD model. We must have movement on this new college. University College Cork, UCC, has great potential in this regard and should be considered as the location. I realise that University of Limerick, UL, is also interested. Looking at County Cork alone, the figures in this context are frighteningly large. There are nearly 13,500 farmers in the county. Of these, 4,500 are in dairy farming, while there are also pig and poultry units. Equally, the cluster of veterinary practices in the county could cater for the practical work required in training vets. Places like Riverview Veterinary Group and Abbeyville Veterinary Hospital, for example, have the potential to be a part of this endeavour when it comes to veterinary practices. We need movement on this issue. The sector needs this to happen. Without a flow of new vets being trained here, we will not reach our capabilities and this will be a significant drawback for our society.