To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs for an update on (i) steps being taken to create a veterinary school within the Ulster University Coleraine campus; and (ii) any conversations he has had with the relevant stakeholders.

While there is an increasing acceptance that Northern Ireland requires a more assured supply of graduate veterinarians, especially for its agri-food industry, than is available from historical sources, there are a number of options for achieving this that merit further exploration.

Following my earlier invitation, Minister Gordon Lyons met with the Vice-Chancellors of the Ulster University and the Queen’s University Belfast, and agreed with them to commission an independent analysis of the various options for better assuring the supply of veterinarians, including various models for the delivery of third level veterinary education, in Northern Ireland.