Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank my party colleague, Deputy Burke, not just for raising this matter but also for meeting with me on the issue. We had a really good engagement, which I will return to in a moment. Expanding the number of places available on health and social care profession programmes is a significant priority for my Department. It is so important for the delivery of healthcare services and cancer care to people throughout our country. Last year, I announced more than 400 additional permanent places on healthcare programmes for the current academic year, which started in September 2023. This included five additional places on the radiation therapy programme at Trinity College Dublin.

I know the Deputy appreciates there are certain issues at play that can constrain expansion in radiation therapy. In particular, these relate to the securing of additional placements and practice tutors in the health sector. I had an excellent meeting with him and representatives from the Trinity College Dublin and University College Cork radiation therapy programmes, as well as a number of radiation therapy professionals, last October. We discussed proposals that would see an expansion of student numbers on the radiation therapy programmes at both Trinity and University College Cork. Given the requirements for additional clinical placements and practice tutors, the Deputy’s proposal was passed to the Department of Health for its input on those two key elements.

Officials from both Departments met representatives of the two universities on 6 February to further explore how we could deliver this further expansion in student numbers. I am pleased to say both institutions undertook to provide further information to the Department of Health on placement and practice tutor requirements. I understand some funding has been allocated by the Department of Health to support the development of sustainable practice education for health and social care professions this year. The national health and social care professions office at the HSE is co-ordinating this process and leading on a number of programmes to support practice education.

In short, there is a great willingness from both Departments to do something in this area, as well as from Trinity, UCC, the Deputy and professionals in this area. We now need to bottom out the clinical placement and practice tutor elements, and if we can do that, we can make significant progress in the weeks ahead.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I thank the Deputy. We will come back to him.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy and I, and I think everyone in this House, will agree everyone wants all scanners in all hospitals to be used to their full capacity. There is not a family in Ireland who have not been touched by cancer. If we can provide the best use of the equipment in which this State has invested and empower the incredible professionals to work with that equipment by providing them with more colleagues, that is a good thing and it is something on which we should all bang our heads together to try to make progress. I am grateful for and acknowledge the work of the Minister and Department for Health in working with my Department and officials in this regard.

My understanding of the meeting that took place in February is that both Trinity and UCC were asked to provide further information to the Department of Health on a number of areas. Both institutions indicated they would be in a position to expand their numbers of places from this September but that they would need clarity some time next month. I understand one institution has come back with an updated proposal and we are expecting the other one to do so shortly, which will be key.

In respect of bursaries, the short answer, in the time available to me, is that that is a matter for the HSE as the employer, but it is something I will take back to the agency and the Department of Health on foot of the Deputy's intervention.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy is entirely correct. There are two parts to this. We have to both train enough people and retain enough people in the health service and, obviously, issues of retention are for my colleague the Minister for Health. Nevertheless, I understand a local arrangement is in place between the HSE South/South West Hospital Group whereby the former provides support to diagnostic radiography students of about €5,000 per annum in return for the two-year commitment to which the Deputy referred. There is also a long-standing arrangement in place with the HSE and the former health boards to recruit trainee clinical psychologists and to sponsor their training as well. There are examples, therefore, of where this can be done, and I will certainly relay the Deputy’s feedback to the Minister for Health.

More broadly, the Deputy is entirely correct. My Department’s job is to work with other line Departments and agencies to make sure we provide enough places at our higher education institutions to train the students and graduates we require for the health service, the public service and the needs of industry. There is little more important than cancer care and radiation therapy. It is a vital area and there is a strong willingness in both Departments to make this work if we can get the progress on those clinical placements and tutors. I would ask both institutions to intensively engage with both Departments in the coming days, as I know they will, to try to make progress on this.