Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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224. To ask the Minister for Health his plans to make a career in the public health sector more attractive in order to encourage newly qualified health professionals to take up a career in this jurisdiction; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43440/15]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Action 46 of Future Healthcommits the Department of Health to work with the HSE to implement an approach to workforce planning and development that achieves the objectives of: recruiting and retaining the right mix of staff; training and upskilling the workforce; providing for professional and career development; and creating supportive and healthy workplaces. This approach will include the development by my Department of a national integrated strategic framework for health workforce planning during 2016.

The Department of Health and HSE have sought to stabilise the workforce through initiatives such as the Strategic Review of Medical Training and Career Structure (also known as the Mac Craith Report) and the Taskforce on Staffing and Skill Mix for Nursing.

The Review of Medical Training and Career Structure involved a Working Group examining and making high-level recommendations relating to training and career pathways for doctors with a view to improving graduate retention in the public health system; planning for future service needs; realising maximum benefit from investment in medical education and training. The Group made a series of recommendations in its three reports aimed at improving the retention of medical graduates in the public health system and importantly, planning for future service needs. The implementation of the Group's recommendations is being actively pursued and monitored.

The main aim of the Nursing Taskforce is to contribute to the stabilisation of the nursing workforce through the development of a framework to determine the safe nurse staffing and skill mix requirements in a range of major specialities.

The first phase of work by the Taskforce in Phase is focused on the development of a framework for safe nurse staffing and skill mix in general and specialist medical and surgical adult care settings in acute hospitals. The framework will take account of a range of factors that influence the determination of safe nurse staffing and skill mix. Chaired by the Chief Nurse, the Taskforce has employed a partnership approach to the development of its work and in its membership, with representatives of the Department of Health, the HSE, The Irish Association of Directors of Nursing and Midwifery, the Staff Associations, the Clinical Care Programmes and national and international Academic experts.