Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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395. To ask the Minister for Health the steps he has taken to address the issues arising for non-central applications office medical students in the system who now find themselves with no guarantee of an internship position when they graduate; his understanding of the maximum capacity for internship positions and how these are distributed across the hospital network; if there is scope to increase the annual intake of graduates; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6445/16]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I am aware that changes were made last year by the Health Service Executive which have had an impact on the allocation of places under the 2016 intern matching process. These changes were necessary as it is not feasible for the HSE to continually expand the number of intern places available. The Executive had already increased the number of places to the maximum level the system can safety support. For some time it has been the case that a significant number of students who study medicine here do so on the basis that they will not have access to intern places.

I have also asked the HSE to respond to the Deputy directly on this matter. If you have not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days please contact my Private Office and they will follow up on the matter with them.