Four Department of Agriculture labs in Munster are to be amalgamated into a new centre of excellence in north Cork, the Irish Farmers Journal has learned.

The move is part of a €33.5m plan to change the structure of the national network. Under the plan, the regional vet labs in Limerick will be closed, while the Sligo and Kilkenny labs will be demolished and rebuilt.

The new Cork centre of excellence will be primarily focused on dairy disease.

The existing Athlone lab will be the focus of significant investment, and become a regional specialist centre for beef and sheep disease.

The Department’s restructure is aimed at making sure all farmers are within an hour’s drive of a lab or a carcase transfer centre. At the moment, 75% of farmers are within an hour of a lab.

There will be five carcase transfer centres in all, two in Munster, one in Donegal, one in the Cavan/Monaghan region and one in Galway.

A new helpline will be established for both farmers and vets. The changes are expected to take place over a six- or seven-year timeframe.

Background

Changes to the RVL network have been mooted since 2015, when the Irish Farmers Journal revealed that the Department was considering closing three of its six RVLs as part of a streamlining of services.

In 2017, a review group headed by Prof Alan Reilly made three main recommendations to the Department of Agriculture in the Strategic Review of Laboratories.

The first option it presented was to keep all six RVLs open or, secondly, close Limerick, Sligo and Kilkenny in time and upgrade the facilities at the remaining three labs (Backweston, Athlone and Bishopstown).

The third option was to close all RVLs bar Backweston and put vans on the road to carry out the roles of vets in the various RVLs.