Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Independent)
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120. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the plans he has in place over the next five years for student nurses who wish to study to fill the vacant positions in the HSE; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [58615/21]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The matter of health workforce planning and ensuring an appropriate pipeline of qualified healthcare workers within Ireland, is a major priority for my Department. This would be a priority even in normal times, but the COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant strain on our healthcare sector, further underscores its importance.

The Programme for Government commits the Department of Health to working with the education sectors, regulators, and professional bodies to improve the availability of health professionals and reform their training to support integrated care across the entire health service. My Department and I are continuing to engage with the Department of Health and other relevant stakeholders to ensure that we can continue to deliver graduates with the skills necessary to support our healthcare system and support the strategic workforce planning by the health sector, including in the delivery of places for student nurses.

Significant increases in the number of new entrants to nursing programmes have taken place over recent years. Between the 2018/19 and the 2020/21 academic years, we have seen an increase from 5,420 to over 6,660 new entrants to level 8 undergraduate degrees in nursing leading to NMBI registration. This represents growth of 23%.