The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has said that fees levied on veterinary practices is a matter for the Veterinary Council of Ireland (VCI).

The statement from the department would seem to rule out an intervention from the department or Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon in the increase in fees that have been criticised by Veterinary Ireland, the representative body for vets and veterinary nurses.

Veterinary Ireland had called on the minister to request the VCI, the statutory body for regulating the profession, to review the proposed increase in fees on vets.

VCI is increasing annual registration fees for vets and veterinary nurses by 8.9%, and has also increased fees for issuing certificates of suitability for veterinary premises.

These increases will range from 103% to 191% of the current fees over two four-year cycles.

Veterinary Ireland has said that this level of increase is "wholly unacceptable" to veterinary practitioners.

The representative body has written to both Minister Heydon and Brain McHugh, the chairperson of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, asking them to intervene in the fee increases.

The CCPC confirmed to Agriland that it received the letter from Veterinary Ireland regarding increases in fees charged by the VCI and would be responding to the letter "in due course".

Now, the department has issued a clarification that would appear to be a blow to Veterinary Ireland's efforts to get the fee increases reviewed and reduced.

In a short statement, a department spokesperson told Agriland: "The prescribing of fees under the Veterinary Practice Act 2005, as amended, is a matter for the Veterinary Council of Ireland as provided for in accordance with section 33 of the act."

In the letters to the minister and the CCPC chair, Veterinary Ireland chief executive Finbarr Murphy said he was writing to "highlight the organisation's deep concerns around the spiralling increases on regulatory costs being imposed on the veterinary profession" by VCI.

The letter states that the VCI is imposing increases in fees for the granting of certificates of suitability (COS) under its Permits Accreditation Scheme (PAS) ranging from 103% to 191% over the period of two four-year cycles.

The letter states that these increases are "multiples" of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increases over the eight-year period to which the COS licences apply.

"Regrettably, despite out representations to the VCI on this matter, the VCI has failed to take on board the legitimate concerns of the the profession," Murphy claimed.