Tim Lombard (Fine Gael)
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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.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Senator for raising this issue. I am taking this Commencement matter on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Harris, who is attending a Cabinet meeting.

The Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science does not place a quota on the number of places on veterinary medicine courses offered by higher education institutions.As such, the number of places provided each year is determined by the institutions themselves in line with their capacity.

However, in light of Funding the Future, the funding and reform policy framework for higher education, which specifically identifies skills needs as a priority when expanding provision of higher education, the Higher Education Authority, HEA, recently sought expressions of interest from higher education institutions interested in building capacity in dentistry, pharmacy, medicine, nursing and veterinary from the academic year 2024-25 or 2025-26. This process was designed to respond swiftly to national skills needs, as outlined by the Senator, and expressions of interest were sought from institutions with the capability to expand existing courses or offer new programmes in these areas. Expression of interest is the first stage of a two-part selection process. On receipt of the expressions of interest, the HEA, with the support of the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, will shortlist expressions that show evidence that an institution has the potential to build capacity in the identified discipline in the specified timeframe.

The HEA has informed the Department that 39 expressions of interest have been received across the five disciplines. Of these, 20 have proposed the delivery of new courses and 19 are proposing to expand on existing courses in the selected disciplines. Overall, responses represent a rapid, nationwide engagement with the call, with expressions of interest in developing new courses in the areas of pharmacy and veterinary from all four provinces. The HEA is currently reviewing applications with a view to moving to the second stage of the assessment process, which will involve a review by an expert panel. Panels may be comprised of representatives from professional or regulatory bodies, international experts, and representatives from the HEA, the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, the Department of Health and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, as appropriate. Applications are due by Monday, 16 January 2023. I understand the HEA has been in contact with the relevant institutions to advise them of the next steps.

Tim Lombard (Fine Gael)
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My real worry here is that we are just going to expand the service. At the moment, UCD, in the middle of Dublin city, provides the veterinary courses for Ireland. If you look at the actual demographics, particularly for the bovine population, the majority are in Munster. We need a geographical spread of placements when it comes to veterinary colleges. I would be concerned if the Department was looking just to expand. We need to look to the future and future-proof this model. We need a new campus with a new university, just to give a little diversity when it comes to the capabilities of these courses. We have small animal and large animal practices. We now need a real focus on where the food industry is going to be and how that is going to develop. I would be of the view that an expansion of the campus is not the key here. We need a new campus and that new campus needs to incorporate large animals as the key focus. If we can do that, we will future-proof our industry going forward. This is a multi-billion euro industry we are talking about here, which will not survive unless we have this line of vets going forward. The new campus scenario has to be top of the agenda. I would be very disappointed if we came back with an expansion.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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As I said, there are expressions of interest from the four provinces with regard to providing new courses. As the Senator will understand, this also relates to workforce planning requirements. There are significant practical elements and placement requirements as part of veterinary medicine programme provision, including appropriate laboratory facilities to ensure these courses meet the necessary standards of the Veterinary Council of Ireland. Workforce planning requirements for the veterinary medicine sector require advice from and consultation with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. That consultation is under way. The Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Harris, and the Minister of State, Deputy Niall Collins, are committed to this and have made clear that planning for current and future public sector skill needs, including in veterinary medicine, is a priority for their Department. The HEA process that is under way will inform further developments in respect of provision in this key skills area. I will ask the Minister and the Minister of State to keep the Senator informed about this process.