Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for the question. My Department, the Minister of State, Deputy Niall Collins, and I are strongly committed to supporting the well-being of the population through the provision of graduates with the key competencies and skills to be effective in health and education workforces and to support a range of public services, including educational psychology.

While colleges are absolutely free to provide whatever courses they want, it is right and proper that when it comes to the public service provision, we have a very active interest in how we workforce-plan. We do many things well in this country. However, one thing we do not do particularly well is to engage in workforce planning properly in terms of public services, which goes back many years. This is something we need to fix.

In this context, my Department in its still relative newness is now engaging with other line Departments on their workforce needs. We are engaging on an ongoing basis with the Departments of Health and Education and other relevant Departments, including the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, with regard to how the further and higher education system can best support workforce planning for the delivery of essential public services.

The national health and social care professions office in the HSE has advised my Department that the psychology project team completed a report in 2021 which recommended the development of a workforce plan for psychology, including educational psychology. My Department understands that implementation of the recommendations now is being examined by the HSE. My Department is also engaging with the Department of Education on its workforce needs, including for the National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS.

Progress on workforce planning in this area by the Departments of Health and Education will inform the funding for future reform process for higher education, a key focus of which, in collaboration with professional regulators, is on ensuring that appropriate pipeline of suitably qualified individuals to enable the delivery of essential public services. A good example of workforce planning is the work that the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, and I did this year in relation to medicine places. We sat down as two Departments with the HSE, others and the deans of medical schools and identified the need. We now have seen a very large increase. We want to replicate that process across health, social care and education. I have written to all Cabinet colleagues on this. Educational psychology is certainly an area I will pursue.

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