Veterinary Services
Dail Éireann — 2026-05-12
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James Lawless (FF), Kildare North

I thank the Deputy. I agree with him about all the benefits that will flow to the regional areas from this. The expansion is being funded through the veterinary places activation programme. That wider programme is backed by €155 million, with €80 million specifically ring-fenced for veterinary education. It is a very important programme. I set a target across government to increase the number of healthcare places, and professional places overall in order to reduce the points pressure on the high points courses like medicine, veterinary and dentistry. Already, we are seeing 1,100 new places across a number of professions coming good on that. In this case, in particular, there are 80 new places for this September across the two new veterinary schools. Even the fact that there are two new veterinary schools in existence is wonderful. They now have representative bodies in the different agencies and boards. I am sure they will play their part in shaping the future of Irish veterinary and making a strong contribution to the regions where the colleges are located. Their graduates will be an exciting new, dynamic force within the veterinary sector. I wish all of the students who applied this year every success. I thank SETU and ATU for rising to the challenge.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-05-12/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:54:49+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-12