John Brassil (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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16. To ask the Minister for Health if all 2016 and 2017 nursing graduates will be offered permanent contracts by the HSE. [40946/17]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I can confirm that all 2016 and 2017 nursing and midwifery graduates will be offered permanent contracts by the HSE. These offers will be subject to the usual recruitment requirements. Nursing and midwifery recruitment and retention is a priority for the Government and officials in my Department are liaising with the HSE on a weekly basis to review progress on the appointment of nursing graduates.

These contracts are being offered as part of the 2017 Nursing and Midwifery Agreement, reached with the INMO and SIPTU. This Agreement has a particular focus on addressing recruitment and retention of nursing and midwifery posts. It has committed to put in place an additional 1,224 nursing and midwifery posts across the public health service by the end of December 2017. Very extensive and detailed work has been sustained throughout 2017 to implement the Agreement.

The HSE is focused on offering graduating nurses and midwives permanent posts. Each Hospital or Community Healthcare Organisation is making offers to the 2016 and 2017 nursing and midwifery graduates who undertake their clinical placement in their location. Every effort is being made to accommodate the graduate nurses and midwives in their preferred locations. Where a Hospital or CHO area is unable to offer places to all graduates, then the remaining graduates are offered places in the respective Hospital Group or an alternative CHO location, as appropriate.