Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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79. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills given the recent recognition by the Minister for Health that Ireland needs to approximately double the number of healthcare professionals it is training, the steps that are being taken to deliver increased provision of healthcare education; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15732/23]

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister has partially discussed this issue. My question is related to the link-up between the demands in the health services and higher education, higher educational professionals and the training that is necessary. As a former Minister for Health, the Minister will understand the enormous gaps that exist. Money is being wasted in places such as Achill Island, where, as the Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, can verify, we have paid nearly €1 million on locum GPs because we do not have the GPs in place to serve the whole area. It is not only about the waste, it is also about the missed opportunities and the risks to people's lives.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy.

We touched on this question earlier. The Minister for Health and I are doing a scanning exercise to see how we can radically increase the size of the health service from an education point of view. We updated the Cabinet committee on health on that on Monday. The Minister for Health has arrived here just on cue. I expect to be able to bring a joint proposal with the Minister for Health to Cabinet in the coming weeks to see how we can expand particularly in 2024, 2025 and beyond. There is potential to do much more and the HEA expression of interest process has indicated that. We will formally receive that report along with the veterinary one in the coming weeks.