One of the state's leading universities, Trinity College Dublin, has defended its use of live animals for medical research, amid strong criticism of the practice by one of Ireland's most celebrated authors and claims by animal rights activists that animals are used in the college because it is the "cheaper option."

In response to a series of questions from the Sunday Tribune, the college confirmed it uses animals for medical research, but declined to provide a full list of which types of animals it conducts tests on.

However, it revealed mice and rats represent 95% of all animals used and said the "justification of the use of animals in medical research is continuously under review by the college."

A spokeswoman for TCD said, "All studies are conducted on the basis of well-defined scientific objectives, giving due consideration to the welfare of the animals, minimising the number of animals used and where possible using animal tissue rather than live animals.

"Scientists in TCD are required to demonstrate that there are no alternatives available before the ethical review process will permit the procedures," she said.

"The animals in question are cared for in a centralised unit under the supervision of a veterinary surgeon assisted by trained technical staff. Any research carried out on the animals requires the prior licensing of the person and the project by the minister of health.

"College staff continuously monitor experiments in progress and are authorised to terminate any experiment in which any animal is judged to be in distress."

However, author John Banville, who wrote a letter to The Irish Times last week in which he called on the university to cease inflicting "unendurable agony upon conscious animals," said the TCD response "doesn't cut any ice with me."

"The notion of doing it is barbaric," he said. "Any obfuscation that they put up, for example talking about limits and controls, is simply that. The simple fact is they do vivisection and they should not. I'm no expert but I feel very strongly about this."

Laura Broxson, spokeswoman for the National Animal Rights Association, which is strongly opposed to all forms of animal vivisection, said TCD students have contacted her organisation to express their concerns about the practices at the college.

She said a senior member of TCD staff had also "basically admitted to us that the college only use animals because it is cheaper." She claimed animal testing "doesn't work" and said the NARA believes that even if it did, "living, breathing, sentient animals" should not be used for these purposes. She also claimed NARA has reports of cats, dogs and even horses being used at TCD. TCD could use other methods, such as those involving human material, cell cultures and computer modelling, if it chose to, she said.