The shortage of veterinary surgeons in north Mayo, which led to protests from local farmers, is to be eased by a special call-out payment to established practices in other parts of the county.
Údarás na Gaeltachta has now introduced a pilot subvention scheme which will pay vets for each call-out in the areas hit by the lack of full-time clinical veterinary services.
The scheme will cover a 480sq km (290sq miles) area, taking in Bangor Erris, Glenamoy, Carratigue, Doohoma and Geesala, and will be open to all vets who attend animals in the area. According to an Údarás spokesman, the fee will be paid at the rate of €30, provided the distance from the veterinary surgeon's premises to the animal is over 20 miles.
He said the scheme would apply only to large sick animals and not to pets or other small animals in the area. The payment is being made on the basis that it is not economical for a vet to travel from east Mayo to farms on the peninsulas, like Blacksod.
It also emerged that Údarás is also in discussions with Veterinary Ireland on what facilities a veterinary surgeon would need to work and stay in the area and the possibility of establishing a long-term clinic in the west Mayo area which has been without proper veterinary cover for nearly six months.
The veterinary profession has been hit over the past few years by a decline in the number of young people wishing to work with farm animals.