Increased regulation on the providers of services such as pregnancy scanning, hoof trimming, horse dentistry and farriery are expected to come into play in the coming months.

Draft regulations will see the providers of these services have a legislative framework underpinning their work, the Veterinary Council of Ireland has said.

Services development

The regulations will also enable a list of competent persons available to offer these services to be developed.

The Veterinary Council has been assisting the Department of Agriculture in seeking engagement with the various parties active in this line of work.

It aims to seek agreement for the introduction of regulations allowing such services, supported by membership associations or bodies, structured training programmes and ongoing learning.

“The intention of the draft regulations is to provide legal clarity and certainty to allow certain procedures to be carried out on animals and to offer services to farmers where a veterinary practitioner or veterinary nurse is not required.

“The competent person will have to be a member of a prescribed body when carrying out a prescribed procedure,” the Veterinary Council has said.