A scheme to help vets modernise IT devices and essential equipment used for bovine tuberculosis (TB) testing will close for applications later this month.
The Veterinary Practice Capital Modernisation Scheme (VPCMS) will provide financial assistance to private veterinary practitioners (PVPs) and veterinary practices to upgrade equipment.
The scheme will fund up to 50% of the cost of new handheld devices, including EID readers, up to €2,250 per vet.
It will also cover half of the cost of new equipment for testing, up to a maximum of €500 per vet.
Veterinary practices can avail of 50% grant funding for IT upgrades to a maximum of €1,750 per practice.
Vets
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) said that the scheme has been developed to support the goal of eradicating bovine TB in Ireland by 2030.
Along with incentivising the purchasing of modern IT equipment to reduce human error, the scheme aims to speed up the sharing of data with DAFM and allows for synergies with future DAFM policy and IT developments.
According to the department, the VPCMS seeks to encourage vets to use equipment which DAFM views as the most effective for the testing procedures for disease eradication programmes.
The scheme will close for applications, which must include all of the proposed purchases, at 5:30p.m on April 29, 2024.
However, the department said that vets will have until December 20, 2025 to purchase any approved handheld device/EID, PC or laptop or any testing bundles that they have been approved for.
Only one application may be submitted per veterinary practice.
A VPCMS approval letter will be issued by DAFM setting out the approved quantity of equipment that will be covered by the scheme.
Successful applicants will then be requested to submit a payment claim form once the devices and equipment have been purchased.
The department said that no aid shall be granted where it is found that devices and equipment were purchased prior to written approval being issued to an applicant.