Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The CAO is a not-for-profit company created by the Irish Higher Education Institutions to process applications on their behalf. Decisions on admissions are made by the Higher Education Institutions who then instruct the CAO to make offers to successful candidates. Neither I nor my Department have a role in the operation of the CAO.

Ensuring an appropriate pipeline of suitably qualified healthcare professionals is a key priority for my Department. 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 has been engaging with the Department of Health on the number of places available in areas where the HSE has identified significant skills shortages. The areas identified include, but are not limited to, places in health disciplines such as medicine, nursing, health and social care professionals including Occupational Therapists, Speech and Language therapists, Psychologists, Physiotherapists, Social Workers, Medical Scientists and Dieticians.

On 28th June I announced 1,056 extra college places for September 2022, which includes places on welfare and nursing programmes. In the coming weeks, the Minister for Health and I will bring a memo to Government to outline a five-year plan to secure extra places in medicine.

I will ensure that there is continued engagement with all stakeholders to safeguard the delivery graduates with the skills necessary to support our healthcare system and support the strategic workforce planning by the health sector.