A group of veterinary practitioners has raised concerns that the window of opportunity to have a new vet school set up for the academic year beginning in 2024 is now “very tight”.
Dr. Jimmy Quinn of the Working Group for Reform in Irish Veterinary Education said that there is “no roadmap or timescale” as to when a second vet school will be established.
This comes as the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science confirmed that there will be “no update” on the matter in advance of the budget.
In June it was announced that an additional 230 vets could potentially be trained every year. Courses in veterinary medicine are currently only offered at University College Dublin (UCD).
It is understood that there is potential for new programmes at the University of Limerick (UL), Atlantic Technological University (ATU), and South East Technological University (SETU).
Vet school
This time of the year is significant, he said, with Central Applications Office (CAO) offers issued to Leaving Cert students, but also some preparing to study veterinary medicine in eastern Europe or Britain.
Dr. Quinn told Agriland that students who are currently studying veterinary medicine in eastern Europe and students intending to do so, have contacted the group seeking advice.
“We advised them to stick with their existing arrangements because there has been no concrete announcement here giving an indication as to when a new school will start,” he said.
“We are concerned that at this time of the year when school leavers are making decisions as to where to go to be educated, there is no information in place indicating that in 2024 we will have a second school here.
“Our campaign continues. We have considerable backing both within the profession among farmers and among second-level students to bring this about. We keep going until the school arrives,” he said.
The group is hopeful that there will be a “positive announcement” within the budget to indicate the allocation of funding for the second vet school because the need for it is “ongoing”, Dr. Quinn added.
Department
The department said it continues to work with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan (NDP) Delivery and Reform on the next steps.
The government previously agreed to advance the process with investment for the creation of new courses to be considered in the context of the budgetary processes and the NDP review.
The Higher Education Authority (HEA), which assessed the potential of further third-level courses, has been engaging with all institutions, according to the department.