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Four universities have been shortlisted to house Ireland’s new vet school, following an assessment by the Higher Education Authority (HEA), Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris has said.
Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal this week, he confirmed that there are four viable options for a new school; University of Limerick (UL), the Atlantic Technological University (ATU), the South East Technological University (SETU) and UCD in the form of expanded capacity.
The ATU proposal would see a “dual campus delivery model between Letterkenny and Mountbellew” colleges, while SETU would be working with Teagasc’s Kildalton Agricultural College in Kilkenny to deliver its course.
UCD’s proposal was to expand the number of places it currently offers and to potentially have a graduate entry route, a route which originally had been ruled out.
“We only have one vet school in south county Dublin and there’s been an argument made for quite a number of years that rural Ireland hasn’t had a veterinary college presence.
“I’m watching lots of young people who have to go abroad every year. We don’t have firm data on it, but we know that there are hundreds of Irish students studying veterinary medicine abroad, many in eastern European countries, and while there will always be a degree of students studying abroad, it’s completely disproportionate at the moment in my view,” he said.
He added that the HEA report said that regional balance needs to be considered for any new school.
“While UCD can expand and it may be an option, it will be very important that that regional balance is there. Those four projects have been deemed to be viable from an educational point of view and they now go forward to full business case,” he said, meaning that the economics of each project will need to be worked out.
“We can say with certainty that there is now three really good projects. If you take all of them together, the four, that’s capacity to do another 230 veterinary places per year.
The Departments of Agriculture and Higher Education will now work to decided on what capacity is required, he said.
The minister said the Government will be “delivering at least one new veterinary school and it’s quite clear that it will be outside of Dublin”. It could be agreed that more than one project could be funded, he said. When asked when intake could start at these proposed locations, the minister said that some could deliver capacity as soon as September 2024.
I’ve never hid my ambition in terms of the future
“They’re all being delivered in different ways. Some are ready to go reasonably quickly, they don’t have significant capital expenditure. Others are brand new models that haven’t been done before. It is possible to see the expansion of veterinary places in Ireland in September 2024. This needs to happen really quickly and it’s a priority for me,” he said.
Apprenticeships
Meanwhile, there will be up to 70 places for new farm apprenticeships starting this September.
There is a new level seven farm manager apprenticeship in Kildalton with 30 places, a farm technician course in Clonakilty and Ballyhaise with a further 30 places, and a horticulture apprenticeship with 10 spaces in the Botantic Gardens, Dublin.
The minister confirmed that gender bursaries will apply to the new apprenticeships. “We have additional financial assistance where we will give an employer an extra €2,666 for any female apprentice they take on,” he said.
Separately, the minister added that the “COVID-19 backlog” of over 7,000 apprentices who had training delays is “pretty much falling month by month”, with the backlog expected to be cleared by year end.
On the nature restoration law, Minister Harris said that it appeared a landing zone was being reached and that the State must do what it can on its own lands.
“This idea of the State setting the target but expecting others to go first isn’t on and we’re very clear in Ireland that the State lands have a big role to play.
“Outside of that, there needs to be a voluntary process [for farmers]. We don’t need to lecture farmers on climate change.”
Money
When asked where money to pay farmers for nature restoration should come from, the Wicklow TD said that “things that are coming at a European level, Europe should look at how it can use its own schemes to support the implementation of its own initiatives”.
When asked if he would like to lead Fine Gael into a general election, the minister reiterated what the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said at the weekend; that there is “absolutely no vacancy [as leader] in Fine Gael and nor do I expect there to be one”.
“The Taoiseach will lead us into the next general election. I’ve never hid my ambition in terms of the future.
“I don’t think ambition is a bad thing but I’m working flat out at the moment,” he said.
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