Veterinary practitioners around the country have voiced strong concerns over recent fee increases introduced by the Veterinary Council of Ireland (VCI), warning that farmer vet bills could rise as a result.

The VCI is imposing an 8.9% increase on annual registration fees for veterinary practitioners and veterinary nurses, as well as increases ranging from 103% to 191% in fees for granting for certificates of suitability (COS) for practice premises under its premises accreditation scheme over two four-year cycles.

Eoin Glynn, Veterinary Ireland president said: “Veterinary Ireland as an organisation are very concerned about the imposed VCI fees. In the current climate with the cost-of-living crisis, all service charges have increased hugely. For example, fuel and electricity - a massive one for farmers and vets alike. All of these increases affect everything we do as a profession.

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“Ultimately, if the fees prevail, it’s the clients of the veterinary profession that are going to be impacted.

“It’s particularly applicable to clients of mixed practices in rural Ireland where a lot of the income comes from farmers. If we look at farmers income recently with drops in beef and milk prices, I don’t know how can vets impose extra charges on farmers in order for practices to stay viable, I just don’t think it can be done,” he said.

“We as a profession are very proud to provide a high level of service and especially for farm animal clients where we are out a lot of nights and long hours, we are always available. These fees are going to make it harder to provide that service,” he stated.

Conor Geraghty from FarmGate Veterinary Group, said his group is looking at a bill of nearly €7,000 which is a large amount of money for a licence.

“As a practice owner here, we spend more time trying to balance things by keeping costs down to farmers while making sure our own staff get paid.

“At the end of the day, the more costs that are increased, they’re going to have to be passed on somewhere along the way.

“It’s unfortunate because you would wonder why the fees have to go up so much, it needs to be looked at,” he concluded.