Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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60. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of non-EU students taking up medical places in universities in Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7503/23]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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According the HEA's Student Record System, in the 2021/22 academic year in total there were 7,200 students enrolled across all years of medicine programmes. Of these, 3,600 were non-EU students.

The 2021/22 statistics are the most recent available. However, since this time, a significant agreement has been reached with the medical schools to increase the number of places for Irish and EU students.

Last July I announced, along with the Minister for Health, an agreement to increase the number of annual intake places available for Irish and EU students by 200 per annum. This increase is being phased in and 120 of the 200 places will be available for Irish and EU students from September 2023.

It must be understood that the funding model for medical education in this country has relied on the cross-subsidisation of places for Irish and EU students by the fees paid by non-EU students.

The agreement to increase the level of funding for existing places, to move them to a more sustainable basis was key to unlocking this expansion in Irish and EU place.

As the Deputy may be aware, the Higher Education Authority has conducted an expression of interest process for Higher Education Institutions interested in building capacity in Medicine, along with Nursing, Pharmacy, Dentistry and Veterinary.

I am working closely with the Minister for Health to facilitate the expansion of medical education places for Irish and EU students. We both briefed the Cabinet Committee on Health earlier this week on the progress already made and the prospects for further expansion. I expect to receive the final report of options for my Department to consider from the HEA shortly and following consultation with the Department of Health intend to bring proposals to Government thereafter.

Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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62. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the extent to which it is expected to match the skill requirement of industry with the skills and qualifications of those exiting education in the current year, based on previous years' experience; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15657/23]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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My Department continues to prioritise strengthening our skills ecosystem to ensure it has the agility and flexibility to adapt to changing priorities in the skills and workforce development landscape, including increasingly rapid, technologically driven changes in the world of work. This focus is underpinned by the detailed and comprehensive OECD review of Ireland's National Skills Strategy which is currently being finalised.

Bodies such as SOLAS's Skills and Labour Market Research Unit and the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs have a key role in assessing and forecasting for the skills and talent needs in an economy being transformed by digitisation and the decarbonisation imperative. The analysis which they carry out is central to informing responsive programme planning across the tertiary system; and flexible and innovative responses to changes in the world of work, such as the Human Capital Initiative and Springboard+. It is also important that our education and training providers align their offerings to the evolving requirements of critical public services such as health and social care and education sectors.

This agility and flexibility is further underscored by responsiveness to priority enterprise and public service workforce needs under key policy initiatives such as, for example; the Action Plan for Apprenticeship; Funding the Future; the Green Skills for FET Roadmap; and the National Digital Strategy Harnessing Digital.

Ireland's success in ensuring that those with qualifications from the tertiary system are meeting the country's needs is evidenced by the results of the Higher Education Authority's national Graduate Outcomes Survey which shows that overall 81.9% of graduates in 2021 were in employment nine months after graduation.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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64. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his views on departmental plans to address inequities that may emerge between State-funded PhD researchers and other PhD researchers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15748/23]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The quality of our researchers is fundamental to the quality of our research system and its collaboration with partners in industry and policymakers, both in Ireland and abroad.

Under Pillar 4 of our national research and innovation strategy, Impact 2030, we have committed to ensuring that researchers have the right skills development and career opportunities so that they can make their maximum contribution, whether in academia, industry, the public sector or elsewhere.

Of the approximately 10,000 annual doctoral enrolments, approximately 6,000 are funded publicly through our higher education institutions and public funding bodies. The latter includes competitive awards from Science Foundation Ireland and the Irish Research Council, as well as awards from the agencies of other Government departments.

The remaining 4,000 enrolments are categorised as self-funding; this includes persons funded by their employers as well as those researchers undertaking a PhD at their own initiative.

Students enrolled as PhD candidates may avail of a wide range of student supports provided by their host higher education institution. These include academic supports and a wide range of well-being supports.

As part of the commitment in impact 2030, I announced a national review of State supports for PhD researchers. I was pleased to appoint Dr Andrea Johnson and David Cagney as Co-Chairs for the review.

I met with the Co-Chairs at the end of February where they provided an update on progress of the review.

This independent review is currently underway. The two Co-Chairs are approaching completion of a very comprehensive round of stakeholder consultations and written submissions. The review is considering a range of critical issues such as stipend levels, the consistency of supports across the system and specific supports for non-EU PhD students.

Once the Co-Chairs finalise their report, it will be presented to Government. Any decision I make on measures to support PhD researchers will be informed by the outcome of this review.