David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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94. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of additional medical, nursing, midwifery, and health and social care undergraduate places across further and higher education courses which will be added across higher education institutes State-wide in 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51639/22]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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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.

In July, the Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly TD, and I jointly announced an additional 60 places in medicine programmes for this academic year. The agreement reached with the medical schools will create additional places in medical programmes over five years, with the number of additional places per annum climbing to 120 in September 2023, and up to 200 by 2026.

I also announced further permanent additional places on healthcare disciplines in July, including 135 places on nursing programmes commencing from September 2022. Significant engagement is ongoing between my Department and the Department of Health in relation to further substantial expansions in nursing places. We continue to work closely with the Chief Nursing Officer, the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland and the Higher Education institutions on the sustainable introduction of places on nursing programmes.

My officials are also actively engaging with the Department of Health, the HSE and other relevant Health and Social Care Profession 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. The availability of appropriate placements and placement supports is a key enabler of this expansion, and engagement across my Department, the Department of Health, HSE and Higher Education Sector is ongoing.