Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy is entirely right. Since giving my initial response, I found the figure in question from 2020. There were 135 additional places in 2020 and approximately 200 additional places in 2021. It is an increase of approximately 335 nursing and midwifery places over the past year.

The Deputy is on to something and he is entirely correct. All of us, including me, regularly tell students about the options and pathways that further education has. It is true those pathways are not as developed as they need to be for nursing. I will not name the institutions in this House but I have been in parts of the country where the college of further education is in one place, You can see through its windows the university or institute of technology, and the venue for pre-nursing and-or the university degree is adjacent but there is no pathway in place. One of the conversations I am having is, instead of having a global figure of increase this year, whether we can ring-fence some of those places to increase pathways from further education.

It always happens, regardless of points, that some people who would make a very good nurse or midwife go the further education and training route. I accept we are losing too many of them now. "Yes" is the short answer. Rather than just increasing the general number, we must work with the autonomous institutions to see if more places can be ring-fenced for this. I am happy to work with the Deputy on this.

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