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Closures of any of the six Regional Veterinary Laboratories (RVLs) are “unlikely”, Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed has said.
The long-awaited cost-benefit analysis of the labs has been finalised and presented to Minister Creed. He says it will be published in due course.
“What we did was the prudent thing to do. Are these labs fit for purpose? If they aren’t, what is the level of investment that will be required? We will be improving and investing in the service delivered to farmers and in the laboratory network,” Minister Creed said.
The RVLs provide animal post-mortems, specimen sampling and collection and publication of animal disease surveillance data for farmers.
Alternative services
The full costs of running the RVL network and the projected costs of the three alternative service delivery models proposed in the Strategic Review of Laboratories are expected to have been examined as part of the cost-benefit analysis.
The three alternative services were to either keep all six RVLS open or close, in time, Limerick, Sligo and Kilkenny and upgrade the facilities at the remaining three labs (Backweston, Athlone and Bishopstown) or close all RVLs bar Backweston and put vans on the road to carry out the roles of vets in the various RVLs.
SHARING OPTIONS: