David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Question 59: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children further to Question No. 123 of 31 May 2005, if her Department has made any arrangements to assist the 75 new occupational therapy trainees in finding a work placement; if all these students who began the course in the 2003-04 academic year were successful in finding a work placement position; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20931/05]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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In recent years there has been a considerable expansion in training places for three therapy professions — speech and language, physiotherapy and occupational therapy — in line with the report commissioned by my Department from Dr. Peter Bacon and Associates, Current and Future Demand Conditions in the Labour Market for Certain Professional Therapists. As the Deputy has said, this expansion includes an additional 75 training places in occupational therapy.

My Department established a national planning group in 2004 to develop a co-ordinated national approach on clinical placement provision. Following on from the work of this group, and building on earlier support provided in 2003, €2.427 million was provided by my Department in 2004 to support the provision of clinical placements for these three therapy professions. Focus has been on securing increased quality clinical placements for the additional training places and for the pre-existing places.

A national implementation group has recently been established by the Health Service Executive to progress the delivery of key actions identified by the national planning group and to make recommendations for appropriate adjustments and re-prioritisations, based on practical experience derived from putting the framework into effect. My Department is co-chairing this implementation group with the Health Service Executive in the initial stages.

As my Department does not have an operational function in regard to the organisation of clinical placements for individual students, the Health Service Executive — which has responsibility for this matter — has therefore been asked to respond directly to the Deputy in this regard.