Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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432. To ask the Minister for Health if he will commit to expanding the public health service employees sponsorship scheme, which seeks to train up HSE workers as nurses and midwives, given the need to increase the number of nurses and midwives in the healthcare system; his views on the fact that, despite there only having been 30 places available in each of the past three years, there has been an average of 155 applicants, which indicates strong interest in same (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37393/24]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I am wholly committed to providing more opportunities to increase the number of nurses and midwives in the Irish healthcare system. My Department continues to implement the recommendations from the Report of the Expert Review Body on Nursing and Midwifery (Department of Health, 2022). One of these recommendation is examining the routes of entry to undergraduate nursing and midwifery, including the sponsorship scheme referred to by the Deputy, as part of increasing diversity of the nursing and midwifery workforce.

Over the past four years, I have overseen a substantial investment in nursing and midwifery to grow and advance the professions. Ireland now has the largest number ever of registered nurses and midwives in the state. As of July 2024, the HSE Employment Report, reported there were 47,675 whole time equivalent (WTE) nurses and midwives.

Increasing education places for undergraduate nursing and midwifery remains a key priority for me and is in line with strategic workforce planning requirements to meet forecasted demand for healthcare. Between 2019 and 2024, the number of first year undergraduate nursing and midwifery places has increased by 32% (from 1,735 to 2,287) across the 13 established Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) providing undergraduate nursing and midwifery education in Ireland.

The provisions of the sponsorship scheme for Health Service employees wishing to train as Nurses and Midwives is outlined in the HSE Circular Sponsorship for Public Health Service Employees (40/2020) and is dependent on the availability of resources. The number of sponsorships available each year is determined by the HSE.