Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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455. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question 632 of 18 October 2022, if the workshop between higher education providers and the Department of Health to discuss workforce requirements and placement issues took place; if so, to detail the finding of the workshop; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7014/23]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The workshop referenced by the Deputy took place on the 8th November 2022. Representatives from the Department of Health, Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, the HSE, CORU and Higher Education Institutions attended.

The workshop considered the key challenges faced by Higher Educations Institutions and the Health Sector in ensuring that they can continue to deliver graduates with the skills necessary to support the healthcare system and support the strategic workforce planning by the health sector.

The group agreed the HSE would identify the priority disciplines of focus for 2023 in which increases in the number of places would be sought. The Department of Health are to draft an iteration of a HSCP placement framework for consideration by the group at a further meeting. The Higher Education Institutions agreed that they would review their programmes to determine what could be possible if matching placements were available in the health sector.