Persons who hold primary qualifications in veterinary medicine may apply to the Council for registration with limited registration under Section 45 of the Veterinary Practice Act 2005, as amended (“the Act”).

The Council must be satisfied of the need to effect registration under Sc. 45 of the Act (limited registration).

The need for registration under Sc. 45 must be for one of the following purposes:

  • To participate in a disease eradication programme (being measures operated by or on behalf of a Minister to prevent, reduce risk of, control or eradicate a disease defined in Section 2 of the Diseases of Animals Act 1966).
  • To participate in the provision of approved programmes of education or further education
  • To be registered under Sc. 45 an applicant must fulfil the following requirements:
  • They must satisfy the Council that they have the requisite knowledge and skill for the purposes of subsection 2 (i or ii above).
  • They must be of good character and repute and must not be an undischarged bankrupt
  • They must have sufficient English language proficiency
  • They must not have been convicted of any offence triable on indictment in Ireland or elsewhere or have been prohibited or suspended from the practice of veterinary medicine by reason of conviction or offence, or serious misconduct in connection with their practice as a veterinary practitioner.

On determining to register a veterinary practitioner with limited registration for the purposes outlined above, the Council may determine to make that registration subject to conditions as it may consider appropriate such as:

  • The duration of the registration.
  • The place where the person registered may practise veterinary medicine.
  • The class or classes of treatments or procedures that may be carried out by the registered person.
  • Attendance at a specified programme of further education (CVE) following registration.
  • That the person registered must be supervised in their practise of veterinary medicine by a specified veterinary practitioner for a specified period of time.
  • The Council may at any time during the registration of a person under Sc. 45 amend the conditions attached to the registration where it is deemed appropriate to do so.
  • Conditions imposed will be entered to the Register. Persons registered with limited registration are not permitted to put themselves forward for election onto the Council, nor are they permitted to vote in respect of an election for Council members, unless they have been registered for 3 consecutive years.

The Council will consider an application for limited registration and make a determination in respect of that application. The Councils decision will be notified to the applicant as soon as possible after it is made.

English Language Requirement

Applicants for registration with the Veterinary Council of Ireland who have obtained their qualification outside of Ireland are required to satisfy the Council that they have the necessary knowledge and competency in English to communicate effectively in the practise of veterinary medicine and veterinary nursing, in the interests of animal health and welfare, public health and public interest.

For further information on the current VCI English language requirements for registration, including acceptable criteria, please click here.

Please be advised that degree programmes delivered and completed wholly in English would be deemed as sufficient evidence in meeting VCI language proficiency requirements.

An applicant for registration shall not be registered in the Register unless he or she provides acceptable evidence of language competence.

Please note applications for registration with limited registration under Section 45 of the Act can take up to twelve weeks to be processed following the submission of all necessary application documents by the applicant.

For further information or to make an appilcation for limited registration contact the VCI office team by email to registration@vci.ie.

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