Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)

I thank the Deputy. He is not disputing the figures. These are the figures that were supplied to me and they include, as he has outlined as well, those who are on various types of leave. Across the board we are engaging in recruitment campaigns. Student placements within our CDNTs continue to be expanded because we want to encourage those on placements within in our teams, so they will come back to work in those settings. There are also a number of bursaries in place to encourage therapists and social care workers to work in our CDNTs. Clinical placements have happened in our CDNTs. They have increased by 55% in the 2024-2025 academic year compared with the preceding one. There are also recruitment drives and new roles and training pathways are being developed to expand the skills mix and strengthen the applicant pools. This also includes developing the role of health and social care assistant and therapy assistant in 2024. There are a range of measures around recruitment here.

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