DEAR SIR: Pat Farrell (IFA) and Des Morrison’s (ICMSA) concerns regarding the lack of vets entering the farm animal sector are unfortunately part of a wider issue facing the veterinary profession as a whole.

This phenomenon is not isolated to farm animal vets but also to small animal and equine practices. Like the medical GP sector, veterinary in Ireland is no longer attractive to recent graduates due to a combination of factors including low wages, unsustainable working hours and a challenging working environment.

Market forces and pricing pressure on veterinary services and product fees have had a knock-on effect on wages. Poor wages combined with understaffed veterinary practices have led to a perfect storm that is unattractive to prospective veterinary staff.

This effect has forced current graduates to look either abroad or to non-traditional veterinary employment where pay and conditions are better.

The average wage for a skilled tradesman, farm adviser or experienced university graduate in food processing companies is now in excess of what a vet is paid while also having better working hours and no “on-call” work.

The reality of both the IFA and ICMSA’s concerns is that veterinary fees charged need to increase in order to provide salaries that attract and retain quality veterinary staff.

While this will not sit well with the majority of their members, especially given the horrendous winter they have experienced, a Department of Agriculture review of the industry will not reveal anything different.

Both these organisations would serve their members better by engaging with the different veterinary representative bodies to try to find a satisfactory solution.

Requesting a Government review and intervention will only delay and potentially bureaucratise what is a very urgent situation.