There has been no decision made yet on the timeline for when the new vet school will be approved, Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue has said.

The minister was speaking to journalists at a press briefing on the potential capacity for new vet and healthcare courses on Wednesday at Leinster House.

This week, a Higher Education Authority (HEA) report identified how additional capacity might be provided in both healthcare and veterinary medicine.

Four universities have been shortlisted as the location for the vet school due to their viability and capacity: the University of Limerick (UL), Atlantic Technological University (ATU), South East Technological University (SETU) and University College Dublin (UCD).

Identifying capacity

“What’s happened has been a very important part of the process for identifying the capacity, where it can be provided, the locations that have the potential to provide it, and also, the proposed models with which it might be provided as well," he said.

The next step will look at how Government can address the challenges around large animal practices, he added.

Minister McConalogue stated he wants to ensure that sustainability is provided for rural and large animal practices in particular, and also make sure that the regional spread is there, because there are challenges in more peripheral and regional areas as well.

The Department of Agriculture and the Department of Further Education will work together to see where the needs for such a course are.

Minister McConalogue said he will also be engaging with the HEA and Minister for Public Expenditure “to see how we can step that forward and do that as quickly as possible. That timeline remains to be decided,” he said.