Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)

On the CDNTs, CORU is the competency office in the Department of Health, but we have engaged there in trying to expedite and make things more efficient because it is a very challenging process for some. I see the Deputies are smiling. It can be a very challenging process for those who wish to come home. Work is under way with CORU in this regard, and I acknowledge the work of the Minister for Health, Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, in relation to it. We are looking at all other avenues as well. I mentioned earlier that there were sponsored scholarships now to attract people to work in the HSE and specifically in the CDNTs. There are also clinical placements. I mentioned to Deputy Toole that this had proven quite effective. There has been an increase of 30% in the number of clinical placements. This means students will get a taste of what it is like to work in a CDNT environment while they are training.

That is a real positive and they will see it as an opportunity going forward.

Regarding the pipeline, over 460 or so additional places are being provided across a variety of disciplines in further and higher education - speech and language, OT and all the various disciplines that are requires - and there are more to come. The significant majority of those came on stream in 2025.