Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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590. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will outline his plans to attract persons to higher education pharmacist and technician grade courses. [22631/22]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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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 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 available data on demand for places in pharmacy courses indicates strong demand for such courses, and as such it is not envisaged that any action needs to be taken at present to incentivise students to undertake these courses. Increasing the number of pharmacists in training would instead be brought about through increasing the places available in these courses.

My Department does not place a quota on the number of pharmacy places offered by higher education institutions, and as such the number of places provided each year is determined by the institutions themselves in line with their capacity. A number of additional places have been provided in recent years, leading to the highest number of new entrants beginning their studies in 2020, the most recent year for which statistics are available.

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.