Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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45. To ask the Minister for Health the measures she is taking to attract and retain staff in the health and social care sector; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34808/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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The HSE continues to operate within an increasingly competitive global landscape for healthcare talent, where the international mobility of healthcare professionals presents growing challenges across all disciplines. This dynamic is further compounded by evolving workforce expectations, which demand greater flexibility, agility and innovation in how we attract and retain staff.

In response, the HSE has increased its overall workforce by more than 3,000 WTEs since 2023 through a range of strategic initiatives. Our focus remains on identifying and implementing opportunities not only to attract and recruit talent, but also to develop, engage and retain a highly skilled workforce capable of delivering safe, high quality care to patients, service users and their families across acute, community and residential care settings.

The HSE has a number of initiatives to maximise this valuable candidate pool. All nursing / midwifery graduates and health and social care professional graduates in key priority areas have been offered permanent contracts of employment in our health service in advance of their graduation and subsequent registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI) and CORU. Every support and encouragement is being afforded to these graduates to encourage them towards employment in the Irish health services.

This approach is important not only to the supply into our health service from our domestic labour market, but also for our graduates, as it signals ahead of their graduation the roles and careers available to them in our health service.

As the implementation of Sláintecare progresses and global competition for healthcare talent intensifies, the HSE is focusing on initiatives that address both current and future organisational need. The HSE Career Hub () provides a portal allowing candidates to access information about the organization, our regions, our culture, career pathways and services that are spotlighted to enhance their profile.

To build a sustainable and diverse talent pipeline, the HSE has implemented a range of targeted attraction measures, including:

• Graduate engagement through tailored webinars and follow up communication with all nursing, midwifery and HSCP graduates post qualification.
• Delivery of webinars aimed at both domestic and international candidates to enhance visibility of opportunities within the health service.
• The development of virtual career fairs, the first of these had a specific focus on attracting staff to Disability Services.
• The expansion of apprenticeship programmes for HSCP roles, designed to reach under-represented populations reflective of the diversity of the communities we serve.
• Strategic profiling of specific services and professions on the HSE Career Hub.
• Use of a broad range of media platforms, including LinkedIn, to promote high priority vacancies.
• Ongoing collaboration with CORU to streamline recognition and registration processes for international applicants.
• Proactive engagement with second and third level education providers and the Institute of Guidance Counsellors, to raise awareness of careers within the HSE and its partner organisations.
• Provision of sponsorship for nursing and HSCP students as part of the long term workforce development strategy.
• Supports for international recruits, including relocation packages and onboarding assistance, to facilitate a smooth transition into the Irish health system.

• The development of a comprehensive HSE Retention Toolkit to support services develop local retention strategies.
• A review of flexible working arrangements and work life balance policies to align with evolving staff needs and expectations.
• Continued development of structured career pathways to support professional growth and long term service within the organisation.
• Ongoing investment in learning and development opportunities for our existing staff.