Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister has a responsibility to ensure that people are being trained to have the skills that our society needs. It is not simply about students getting onto the courses that they want; it is about the proper planning for the skills that we need in the future.

Almost 4,000 students enrol in pre-nursing courses. Fewer than 5% of them go on to further education to get nursing degrees in the State. Similarly, people go abroad. The Minister constantly mentions pre-law courses when discussing alternative pathways, but his Department does not collect data on the number of students that progress to law degrees. It is always about places and place availability tomorrow, but we need to be straight and honest with people. We are not providing the education for what we need in society, particularly in the area of medicine. We are not providing what is needed for those nursing students that need the pathway to get into our health service. That, together with the chronic underfunding of higher education, is why there is a shortage of people to fill those positions.

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