It could be necessary to make changes to the Veterinary Act in order to give the Veterinary Council of Ireland (VCI) the power to decide who can own veterinary practices, members of the Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture said on Tuesday.
The ownership of veterinary practices is outside of the remit of the veterinary regulator.
In a lengthy debate over the implications of this, VCI representatives said that the body can only regulate the practitioners of veterinary medicine.
Members of the Oireachtas committee queried whether decisions made by a corporate owner of a veterinary practice would tie the hands of the vets working in it. If, for example, the corporate body decided that it would no longer deal with large animals, would the VCI be able to regulate this?
The answer from registrar and president of the VCI, Niamh Muldoon and Peadar O’Scannaill, was that this is not in the legislative remit of the body.
“Before any corporate gets involved anywhere, the only person who can provide the service and influence the practice and decide what it is going to do is the veterinary practitioner,” O’Scannaill said.
“There isn’t a fourth party. The vet is the first party, we [VCI] are the second party, the farmer is the third party.”
Before any corporate gets involved anywhere, the only person who can provide the service and influence the practice and decide what it is going to do is the veterinary practitioner
The VCI has a professional code of conduct for its 2,842 vets and 935 vet nurses registered. At a meeting of the council in December 2017, its code of conduct was amended to say that corporate ownership was permitted. However, the amended section was put on hold at a meeting the following month while a consultation was carried out. Grant Thornton is expected to publish a report on that consultation this summer.
Conflict of interest
Oireachtas members queried whether there was a conflict of interest for any of the VCI board when these decisions were made.
However, chief registrar Niamh Muldoon said that “the VCI takes all its decisions as a body corporate. All members wear public interest hats when sitting at that table”.
Peadar O’Scannaill said that the focus on corporate ownership was a “red herring”. “If the cow has a prolapse, it is the vet who is called and the vet decides how to deal with that prolapse. They cannot enter a contract that affects their answerability to the veterinary council.”
Meanwhile, some of the Oireachtas members said that the problem is less one of ownership and more the shortage of large animal vets.
Senator Rose Conway Walsh asked what actions are being taken to address that: “farmers need to know that an affordable service will be there for them”.
UCD is the only education body in Ireland providing an accredited training course for vets and the issue of CAO points to enter the course was raised.
Farmers need to know that an affordable service will be there for them
“The council is about to embark on the development of its corporate strategy and all the data available [including the number of vets, age of vet and whether practices are large or small animal] may well be an aspect of the strategy which is yet to be commenced,” Muldoon said.
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It could be necessary to make changes to the Veterinary Act in order to give the Veterinary Council of Ireland (VCI) the power to decide who can own veterinary practices, members of the Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture said on Tuesday.
The ownership of veterinary practices is outside of the remit of the veterinary regulator.
In a lengthy debate over the implications of this, VCI representatives said that the body can only regulate the practitioners of veterinary medicine.
Members of the Oireachtas committee queried whether decisions made by a corporate owner of a veterinary practice would tie the hands of the vets working in it. If, for example, the corporate body decided that it would no longer deal with large animals, would the VCI be able to regulate this?
The answer from registrar and president of the VCI, Niamh Muldoon and Peadar O’Scannaill, was that this is not in the legislative remit of the body.
“Before any corporate gets involved anywhere, the only person who can provide the service and influence the practice and decide what it is going to do is the veterinary practitioner,” O’Scannaill said.
“There isn’t a fourth party. The vet is the first party, we [VCI] are the second party, the farmer is the third party.”
Before any corporate gets involved anywhere, the only person who can provide the service and influence the practice and decide what it is going to do is the veterinary practitioner
The VCI has a professional code of conduct for its 2,842 vets and 935 vet nurses registered. At a meeting of the council in December 2017, its code of conduct was amended to say that corporate ownership was permitted. However, the amended section was put on hold at a meeting the following month while a consultation was carried out. Grant Thornton is expected to publish a report on that consultation this summer.
Conflict of interest
Oireachtas members queried whether there was a conflict of interest for any of the VCI board when these decisions were made.
However, chief registrar Niamh Muldoon said that “the VCI takes all its decisions as a body corporate. All members wear public interest hats when sitting at that table”.
Peadar O’Scannaill said that the focus on corporate ownership was a “red herring”. “If the cow has a prolapse, it is the vet who is called and the vet decides how to deal with that prolapse. They cannot enter a contract that affects their answerability to the veterinary council.”
Meanwhile, some of the Oireachtas members said that the problem is less one of ownership and more the shortage of large animal vets.
Senator Rose Conway Walsh asked what actions are being taken to address that: “farmers need to know that an affordable service will be there for them”.
UCD is the only education body in Ireland providing an accredited training course for vets and the issue of CAO points to enter the course was raised.
Farmers need to know that an affordable service will be there for them
“The council is about to embark on the development of its corporate strategy and all the data available [including the number of vets, age of vet and whether practices are large or small animal] may well be an aspect of the strategy which is yet to be commenced,” Muldoon said.
Read more
Listen: €500 for out-of-hours vet visit in Donegal
IFA calls on minister to address veterinary issues
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