Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I would be delighted to come here and debate my record in the Department of Health but we probably do not have time in the 58 seconds available to me other than to say the number of people working in the health service grew every year I was Minister for Health.

I agree with the Deputy that time is of the essence in terms of providing clarity on the additional numbers. We are honing in on finalising it. I expect the additional number of places to be somewhere in the region of 800 to 1,000. This is subject to finalisation but it is my expectation. What I am trying to do, and I think it is something on which we agree, is to target them to in-demand areas and areas where there are skills needs. I will outline to the House the three areas that are very prominent. They are healthcare, construction and climate and green skills. We speak a lot about construction in the context of apprenticeships and rightly so but of course construction will also need more architects and engineers and people who will go through the higher education system.

I do not have to hand the information the Deputy is looking for on the number of places taken up last year but I will provide it in writing to her.

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