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Donal O'Regan, 17 Aug
IRELAND is facing a “cliff edge” with an ageing community of veterinary
practitioners, said Minister for State Niall Collins.
He sat down last week with the Vet School Working Group (VSWG), who are
calling for a vet school in the Mid-West.
Pictured above are Cllr Ger Ward; Derek O'Donoghue, principal, Salesian
Agricultural College; Ian Fleming, Vet School Working Group (VSWG);
Shane McAuliffe, McAuliffe Pig Farms, Castleisland; Laura Courtney
Ward, vet student studying in Poland, Minister Niall Collins; Hazell
Mullins, president of Veterinary Ireland; Aonghus Lane, St Davids
Poultry, Newcastle West; Jim Quinn, VSWG; Liam Walsh, St Davids Poultry
Last year, then Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris
announced UL was given the green light to proceed to the next stage of
its vet school application - preparing a full business case.
VSWG say UCD is the only provider of veterinary education on the island
of Ireland, “producing one quarter of annual requirement - 80 out of
320 vets”. They estimate over 600 Irish students are attending vet
schools, mainly in Eastern Europe.
They say there are “chronic recruitment / retention issues in Irish
veterinary practice, both rural and urban, putting provision of
veterinary services at risk”.
The solution, according to the VSWG, is a new, large capacity (80 to
100 place) vet school, based in the Mid-West for regional balance, with
innovative teaching methods with UL the “preferred site”.
Speaking after the meeting in Pallaskenry Agricultural College, Mr
Collins said there is a recognised shortage of veterinary college
places in Ireland.
“This puts so many students and their families through the hugely
undesirable experience of the CAO lottery to get into Ireland’s only
veterinary school in UCD or else having to study abroad either in the
UK or Poland. Studying abroad places enormous extra cost and stress on
students.
“We are also facing a cliff edge with an ageing community of veterinary
practitioners across Ireland. This is most acute in large animal
practices,” said Mr Collins.
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For reasons of food security, animal welfare and supporting our farmers
we need to produce more vets in Ireland to work in Ireland, he said.
“As a TD and minister representing rural county Limerick I fully
appreciate the sense of urgency now being expressed by both the
veterinary and farming communities.
"Government recognises this and following a series of expressions of
interest from universities a decision will be made in coming months as
to the location or locations of these much needed new veterinary
college places,” concluded Mr Collins.