I want to raise an issue that I know was close to the Taoiseach’s heart when he was Minister for higher education. It relates to the proposal to locate two additional veterinary colleges in the country. A process has been gone through and three locations have been shortlisted. The colleges are waiting anxiously for the announcement as to which ones will be running these courses because they want to put things in place and manage them. As well as that, there are many students throughout the country who are thinking about doing veterinary medicine. I am thinking of them and their parents. Heretofore, those students would have had to travel to Europe to undertake their study. I am anxious that this proposal be fast-tracked.

I acknowledge all the work the Taoiseach did on this while in the ministerial role. When might we see the announcement that this will happen? It is important for rural Ireland as well as for the veterinary sector.

It is vital that this happens. We have an excellent veterinary school in UCD but we only have one in the country. We have a particular acuity in terms of access to veterinary services and to veterinarians, often in rural and regional Ireland. As the Deputy rightly says, three projects have been identified, including one in Mountbellew, one in Limerick and one in Kildalton. The Minister for agriculture and the Minister for further and higher education are working together on this. I will get the Deputy a specific timeframe but I am very eager to see a conclusion brought to this issue.