Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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147. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if additional places will be sanctioned for Irish and EU students to study medicine as a result of the calculated grades process; the number of additional places on top of the 708 quota; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23458/21]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I am aware of the high number of CAO applications this year, and officials from my Department are engaging regularly with representatives from the higher education sector in relation to the 2021/22 academic year and demand for places.

The CAO process applications for undergraduate courses on behalf of the Higher Education Institutions. Decisions on admissions are made by the HEIs who then instruct the CAO to make offers to successful candidates. As such, neither I nor my Department have a role in the operation of the CAO, and it is not with our remit to provide any guarantees as to the number of places offered in any higher education course.

However, my Department is monitoring the situation as it develops and my officials are working with the HEA and the Higher Education Institutions to identify where there is scope for additional places to be provided. All bodies involved will continue to work to ensure the availability of a full range of further and higher education options for applicants in 2021 and in future years.