To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, given the expected need for more vets in Northern Ireland to certify food and animals in a no-deal Brexit, to detail (i) his plans to create a veterinary school in Northern Ireland; and (ii) what recent discussions he has had with further and higher education institutions regarding this issue.

I am aware of the potential need for increased numbers of vets to certify food and animals under the Northern Ireland Protocol, and my Department has been working hard to ensure that sufficient trained veterinary resources are in place across the profession, to meet this need from 1st January 2021 onwards.

However it is not the role of the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs to create a veterinary school in Northern Ireland, and I have had no recent discussions with either further or higher education institutions on this matter

I would however be very supportive of any proposals to develop undergraduate veterinary education here in Northern Ireland, and would be happy to facilitate this in whatever way I could, were either of the local universities to decide to take this forward.

To that end I have recently written to the Vice Chancellor of each university, in an attempt to establish their level of interest in and commitment to any such proposal.