Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions Dail Éireann — 2023-02-21 ============================================================ Michael Lowry (IND), Tipperary UCD is talking about expanding its course by eight to ten places, which is not sufficient. There is a very strong argument for developing a regional balance. UL is a creative and innovative university and is exceptionally progressive. It has made an application and people in the mid-west support it, as do I as a representative of the people of Tipperary. How many institutes of higher education have expressed an interest under the current process? What is the decision-making process and what is the timescale for making such a decision? Since graduate entry programmes tend to have higher retention rates in education and other professions, would the Government consider funding graduate entry for veterinary education? Will the decision-making process take into consideration the requirement for an all-Ireland veterinary programme with graduates fully accredited by the Veterinary Council of Ireland and the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons? This is obviously critical as Ireland is a single unit from a disease perspective on our shared island. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2023-02-21/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:51:36+00:00 Sitting date: 2023-02-21