Tippeary TD welcomes go-ahead to advance Veterinary School at University of Limerick

Tipperary TD Michael Lowry has welcomed the news that the University of Limerick has been given the go-ahead to proceed to the next stage of the establishment of a new Irish School of Veterinary Medicine.

The news has been confirmed by Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris, with the go-ahead being described in the region as a significant milestone for UL.

The Higher Education Authority has said that the University of Limerick has a "viable proposal to deliver veterinary education" and it is understood that the UL proposal included provision for 90 student veterinary places. 

While acknowledging that plans to proceed to the next stage is not a decision to locate the College in Limerick, Deputy Lowry said that the news was very significant for the entire Mid-West, as prospective veterinary students from Tipperary and the entire region have had no option to train in all aspects of veterinary medicine other than UCD.

Back in March, Deputy Lowry said in a statement to the Dail that therewas a strong argument to have a regional balance in the location of a new Veterinary School.

He asked the Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, for Government support to establish this much-needed facility at the University of Limerick.

"The University of Limerick is a creative university. It is innovative and it is exceptionally progressive. They have made an application," said Deputy Lowry. "The people of the Mid-West support this application. I support this application as a representative of the people of Tipperary."

Deputy Lowry said at that time that "veterinary practice owners in Tipperary and across Ireland are experiencing enormous difficulties in recruiting and retaining vets for clinical practice. We have a crisis in the delivery of veterinary education and retention of vets in Ireland.

‘Ireland urgently needs a second Veterinary School to specifically address this recruitment and retention crisis. An inability to provide sufficient veterinary care into the future will negatively impact on animal welfare and agribusiness. The agri-food sector is Ireland’s oldest and largest indigenous exporting sector. In the mid-west region, the sector provides up to 14% of employment.

"There is obvious interest in the profession. UCD is the only Veterinary College in Ireland and it is hopelessly short on placements. At present only 1 in 4 registered vets are educated in UCD. Over 500 Irish students currently study veterinary in colleges throughout Eastern Europe."

Deputy Lowry has also stated that the University of Limerick’s Medical School had pioneered a similar model for Medical General Practitioners and UL had now proposed a similar model for veterinary education. UL has also established research programmes in human medicine, equine science, dairy, biomedical and antimicrobial resistance, which would complement veterinary teaching and research.

"UL has always been an innovator in education and is uniquely positioned to address the issues in veterinary education with a different recruitment emphasis and an innovative delivery model.

"We need the new model of veterinary education that is proposed and this can be delivered by the University of Limerick," he said in March.