Donna McGettigan (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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681. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the estimated cost of providing an additional 200 medical places to meet the increased need for doctors; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28508/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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My Department and I are committed to expanding the number of places available on Medicine Programmes in a sustainable way in collaboration with my cabinet colleague Minister Carroll MacNeill and her officials in the Department of Health.

In July 2022 an agreement was announced to increase the number of annual intake places available for Irish and EU students by 200. This increase has been on a phased basis each academic year from September 2022 to the final increase in September 2026. To date, 160 additional EU places have been added to the Medicine programmes.

In addition to increased places in Universities in this jurisdiction an agreement was reached with Queens University Belfast in September 2024 to have additional ringfenced places on their undergraduate Medicine programme for Irish Students who wish to study in Northern Ireland, 50 places in total in 2024 and 2025. Students who take up these places will commit to applying to take up a position in the HSE as an intern at the end of their studies.

A process undertaken by the Higher Education Authority has recommended two new Medicine programmes to be progressed in the medium term. A Graduate Entry Rural and Remote Medicine Programme in the University of Galway and a direct entry Medicine programme in the University of Limerick. At full roll out it is anticipated this will provide a further 78 student places per annum between both Universities.

Where additionality is required on courses or a new course is required, specific engagement with the sector and external stakeholders is very often required. This process allows for a deeper consideration of wider issues such as capacity, staffing, other supports, availability of placements, capital investment in buildings and equipment etc. It is therefore, not possible to definitively calculate the costs of increasing places in the absence of a specific engagement with the sector.

Expansion of places in Medicine Programmes requires significant investment from my Department but also the Department of Health regarding the mandatory clinical placements and supports while on placement. I will continue to work with my cabinet colleagues to build on expansion that has been achieved to date.