Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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79. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to create additional places in further and higher education facilities in the 2023-24 academic year to ensure the provision of graduates with the key competencies and skills needed to staff children’s disability network teams; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6860/23]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Ensuring an appropriate pipeline of suitably qualified professionals in disciplines required for disability teams and therapy professions operating in the Health, Children and Education sectors is a key priority for me and my Department. I want to build on the progress made in supporting health workforce planning last year which saw 60 additional medicine places added in September 2022, with capacity to increase by 200 places per year by 2026, and an additional 135 places in nursing programmes.

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.

Significant engagement is ongoing between my Department, the Department of Health, the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, and the Department of Education to develop a joined-up approach to meet system level demand in therapeutic disciplines.

Officials from the Department were represented on the Interdepartmental Working Group which was tasked with developing an Action Plan for Disability Services. The department will work with the HSE and the Department of Health and the Department of Children (DCEDIY) to progress actions arising out of this plan.

Health discipline programmes are by their nature complex in delivery. The availability of appropriate placements and placement supports is a key enabler of expansion. A working group, including representation from the Department of Health, HSE and CORU, as well as the higher education sector, has been established to specifically examine how placements can be secured to facilitate greater numbers of training places.

There are some fundamental issues, which are in the control of the health sector which are prerequisites to enable expansion. These relate to guarantees of clinical placements, detailed and robust workforce planning projections and engagement with regulators. These complex issues will fundamentally set the parameters for future growth in the system so progress on educational expansion will require action on these areas in lockstep by the Department of Health and my Department.