Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The short answer as to what I would be willing to consider is that I will consider any and all options. The two most direct ways in which we can assist is the Deputy's second suggestion regarding the level of subvention through the free fees initiative that the State provides. Deputy Berry has not suggested this, but sometimes it is suggested that the State does not provide any funding in this regard. That is not the case. The case, as the Deputy rightly said, is that we do provide some subvention. Could we provide more? That is definitely one policy option.

The second option is trying to provide access to SUSI, which would be a more targeted intervention, in assessing a graduate entry medicine student in the same way any student is assessed. If such students were eligible, they would be able to avail of significant financial support and maybe a reduction in fees not available to them at the moment. They are the two most direct ways.

I will tell the Deputy something else I am considering doing. I have yet to finalise this or to bring it to the Government, but we run a number of bursaries through our national access plan. Currently, those bursaries are only for undergraduate programmes. I am very seriously considering extending them to graduate entry medicine, recognising the need for diversity in the profession and including people from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds in graduate entry medicine.

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