Vets have been accused of not achieving best international practice in animal health in areas where the Government was not involved.
Prof Simon More of University College Dublin told the annual conference of the Animal and Plant Health Association in Portlaoise yesterday that these areas included infectious diseases such as mastitis, infectious bovine rhinotracheitis, Johne's disease and bovine viral diarrhoea.
Prof More, who is attached to the centre for epidemiology and risk analysis in UCD, said yesterday that where there was Government involvement, there had been substantial progress towards eradication of brucellosis and the resolution of the BSE issue.
While progress towards eradication of bovine TB had stalled, Ireland was leading international efforts towards a practical solution to the problems presented by an infected wildlife reservoir.
"Because of the special importance of animal health in international trade and the impact, perceived or otherwise, of animal disease on product quality, the health status of our animals is critical to the international competitiveness of our agriculture and food products," said Prof More.
A spokesman for Veterinary Ireland, which represents the veterinary profession, said that, given the context in which the professor was speaking, this was fair criticism.
"Where we are tackling diseases on a piecemeal way, there can be difficulties, but all of us, vets, farmers and processors, are doing our best to achieve the highest possible standards."
Jim Dwyer, who farms near Borris-in-Ossory, Co Laois, told the conference that veterinary practitioners had neglected the whole area of animal health.
"A prime example is dairy cow fertility, which has been a major problem for the past two decades, but the veterinary profession has done little or nothing about it.
"For example, how many veterinary practices have a pregnancy scanner, an essential piece of equipment in providing a professional service on cow fertility?" he asked.
Mr Dwyer, who is former president of the Irish Grassland Association, referred to the "superior attitude" of vets towards farmers.
"The approach is to deprive us of the information we need. This is not acceptable. As farming becomes more concentrated, we will have more and more highly skilled people running big businesses.
"They need to be treated as equals by those who provide them with essential animal health services."
He outlined to the conference his own experiences of veterinary services following the destocking of his farm after an outbreak of brucellosis in 2002 .
He said during that period he had experienced a lot of animal disease problems but the veterinary profession had not been particularly helpful.