Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do not doubt the Deputy's sincerity about this. I need to say that 460 is not a number that I plucked out of the air. It is what the colleges in Ireland have told us they can do. If the Deputy ever finds himself in my position, all of this is contingent on asking the universities what they can do if we give them more money. The hospitals and others are asking what they can do about clinical places. The answer that they came up with collectively was 460. The benefit of this is that it is 460 extra every year. The cumulative impact of this over a number of years is significant. It is not just 460, though. It is 460 plus the 200 in the North and a further 50 studying therapy in the North. It is well above 700. It is about 720. That is where we are. I am happy to try to do more. That is the honest answer about what the system told us. The issue of retention is key. It is not for me to stray outside my remit but we can train more people, but obviously we then need to try to retain them in the health service. That is a different body of work. I have had many conversations with the Minister for Health and Department of Health. A working group has been set up with my Department and the Department of Health on workforce planning. We regularly meet at an official level to map that out.

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