Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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1071. To ask the Minister for Health his plans to deal with the ongoing failure of the Health Service Executive to ensure that training colleges here are providing the requisite number of non-consultant hospital doctors and interns to hospitals throughout the State. [34205/14]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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As Minister for Health, the recruitment and retention of doctors – including NCHDs and interns – in the public health system is a priority for me. That is why I am committed to the implementation of the recommendations of the Strategic Review of Medical Training and Career Structure completed earlier this year. The Strategic Review reports identify a range of issues impacting on the recruitment and retention of doctors in our system, and offer solutions and recommendations that will enable us to build a sustainable medical workforce for the future. My Department and the HSE are currently working together to put in place arrangements to oversee the continued implementation of the recommendations of the Review.

With regard to intern training posts, under the provisions of the Medical Practitioners Act 2007 it is a matter for the Health Service Executive (HSE) to assess, on an annual basis, the number of intern training posts required by the health service. My Department is in regular contact with the HSE in relation to the issue of intern places with the aim, in so far as is possible, of providing a sufficient number of intern places for Irish/EU graduates from Irish medical schools.

In recent years the HSE has embarked on a process of expanding the number of posts to meet the demand of the growing number of graduates from Irish medical schools. In 2012 the number of intern posts available was 572, and in 2013 this increased to 640 positions. In 2014 an additional 45 intern places were created, resulting in 685 intern posts being available for the academic year 2014–2015.