Veterinary practitioners from the Republic of Ireland will no longer be able to provide occasional veterinary services in the UK, nor will UK-based practitioners who may wish to provide temporary services in the Republic be permitted to do so from 1 January 2021.

EU Directive 2005/36EC enables a practitioner who is lawfully established and registered in an EU member state to occasionally practice in other countries in the EU for short periods, up to a maximum of 30 days per year.

Post-Brexit, practitioners will now need to be registered with the relevant regulatory body in the country they are visiting, be it the RCVS or VCI, even if the provision of these services is temporary and occasional.

Brexit ready

A Mutual Qualification Recognition Agreement between the RCVS and the VCI was signed by the organisation presidents on 31 October 2019.

This was done to ensure continued accessibility for veterinary practitioners seeking registration in Ireland and the UK.

President of the RCVS Mandisa Greene said: “We know that veterinary surgeons based both in Northern Ireland and the Republic have clients and undertake work on both sides of the border.

“This agreement will help to ensure that UK and Ireland-qualified veterinary surgeons are able to register in each other’s jurisdictions where required.”

Degree recognition

The agreement means that the degree in veterinary medicine from UCD can be recognised by the RCVS and the current eight RCVS-recognised UK veterinary medicine degrees can be recognised by the VCI.

CEO and Registrar of the VCI Niamh Muldoon said: “This historic agreement will enable graduates of Irish and UK veterinary schools to continue to seek to practise in the other country when they wish.”

Read more

Farmer, vet and industry need to be 'at the table' to design health programmes

Farmers face 200% hike in vet medicine cost

Scanners and kit stolen from vet’s jeep recovered