The Department of Agriculture is to overhaul the regional veterinary lab (RVL) network and develop two new “super RVLs”.

The move is part of a 10-year €33.5m plan to change the structure of the national network. The existing regional vet lab in Limerick will be closed, while the Sligo and Kilkenny labs will be demolished and rebuilt.

A new helpline will be set up for farmers and their vets to seek advice and assistance, book carcases in for post mortems and follow-up of laboratory findings.

Two new carcase transfer centres will be established in Co Donegal and Co Cavan, to which farmers can bring carcases which have been booked in for post mortem. The carcases will be delivered by the Department to Sligo and Athlone RVLs.

The existing labs in Kilkenny and Sligo will be demolished and rebuilt as new state-of-the-art laboratories by the end of 2022 and 2024, respectively.

Next, the existing Cork and Limerick labs will be amalgamated to establish a “super RVL” at a greenfield site in north Cork, with carcase transfer centres in Co Clare and Co Kerry.

The final stage will involve the development of a super RVL in Athlone and a carcase transfer centre in Co Mayo.

The RVLs in Kilkenny and Sligo will be designed to accommodate a staff of 15, while the super RVL in Co Cork will have 45 staff and Athlone will have 25 staff.

Specialist centres

The new Cork centre of excellence will be primarily focused on dairy disease, while Athlone will become a regional specialist centre for beef and sheep disease.

The Department’s restructure is aimed at making sure that 98% of 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.

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.