Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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590. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the target number of graduates from paramedic sciences; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9129/22]

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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592. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of qualified paramedics admitted and graduate from paramedic science degree courses for each year that data in available; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9131/22]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 590 and 592 together.

There are three routes to training as a paramedic in Ireland - recruitment by the National Ambulance Service, recruitment by the fire brigade or entry into the University of Limerick's B.Sc in Paramedic Studies. The number of entrants accepted by the NAS and fire brigade is a matter for those organisations, in line with their recruitment needs. While there are other paramedic training courses provided in HEIs, UL's degree is the only one designed for students who are not already working as paramedics. The entrants and graduates from this course are below. As it began in 2016, graduate figures are only available for 2020 at this time.

My Department is strongly committed to supporting the health of the population through the provision of graduates with the key competencies and skills to be effective in the health workforce, and support a range of clinical teams in our health services.

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 officials are actively engaging with the Department of Health on determining the longer term skills needs of the healthcare services, and the role which the further and higher education sector can play in meeting those skills needs. I will ensure that there is continued engagement with all stakeholders to ensure that we deliver graduates with the skills necessary to support our healthcare system and support the strategic workforce planning by the health sector.