Retirements and a lack of newly qualified vets leave profession in crisis 

Vets are highlighting the urgent need for new veterinary schools to help tackle a recruitment and retention crisis in the profession, particularly in rural areas

Ian Fleming, a vet in Fermoy, Co Cork, believes a major contributor to recruitment issues is that Ireland currently has just one vet school, at University College Dublin, offering roughly 80 places annually. Picture: Denis Minihane

If you want an idea of the scale of the longstanding but growing national shortage of vets, the classifieds in the Veterinary Ireland Journal is a good place to start.

That is according to Ian Fleming, a vet of 45 years, based at Duntahane Veterinary Clinic, in Fermoy, Co Cork.