Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue has been urged to “stop dragging his heels on the decision for a new veterinary school in the west of Ireland”.
Irish MEP for the Midlands North-West, Maria Walsh said that “urgent action” is needed from the minister to deliver a programme in veterinary medicine at Atlantic Technological University (ATU).
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 in veterinary medicine at ATU, the University of Limerick (UL), and South East Technological University (SETU).
Veterinary medicine
It was identified that there is a potential for 40 places annually at ATU. According to the MEP, this includes programme delivery from ATU Donegal in conjunction with ATU Mountbellew.
She said that it is “high time” Minister McConalogue “stopped sitting on the fence and announced the provision of a new programme in ATU Donegal and Mountbellew”, adding:
“It would be an ideal complement to the current offerings in veterinary nursing and agriculture in the Donegal campus, and the agriculture provision in the Mountbellew campus in Galway.”
MEP Walsh added that a decision is needed now so plans can be put in place for 2024 and students are made fully aware of the “opportunities and choices available” to them.
This comes as the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science confirmed that there will be “no update” on new programmes in advance of the budget.
Stressing the importance of supporting the agri-sector, and attracting more students to work and live in rural Ireland, she said that a new vet school in the west “would greatly” benefit farming communities and rural development in the region.
“It is worth noting that the 2020 CSO [Central Statistics Office] figures found that the west is home to approximately 31,000 farms – my own included – and many of these farms would directly benefit from vets in training,” she said.