Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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2722. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills in view of volatile CAO points locking students out of medicine, nursing, and pharmacy, the number of additional places that will be created for 2026, particularly in UCC and MTU. [46264/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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The CAO is an independent body that processes applications to undergraduate programmes on behalf of the higher education sector in Ireland. Entry points for courses fluctuate annually as they are not set by institutions but are instead determined by the number of places available in a given course, the volume of applicants, and the grades achieved by those applicants.

CAO applications increased by 7% this year, with healthcare courses experiencing a particularly strong rise of 17% in first preference applications. Within healthcare Pharmacy saw a 30% increase, Nursing and Midwifery 17%, and Medicine 6%.

Over the last number of years, my Department has worked together with the Department of Health to increase places in high-demand health and social care courses in order to ensure that we are producing the graduates needed to provide vital public services. As well as increasing places, we are also working to diversify entry pathways into healthcare professions, meaning that CAO points will not be the only way to access these courses.

Two new Pharmacy courses were launched this year - one in the University of Galway and one in Atlantic Technological University. The additional places created by these courses, along with additional places offered in RCSI, meant that despite the significant increase in demand, points fell this year for all pharmacy courses. A further Pharmacy course will launch in South East Technological University next year.

An agreement with medical schools to expand EU places in Medicine, established in July 2022, continues to be implemented. The agreement is to add 200 medicine places by 2026 and as of 2025 approximately 180 places have been added across the medical schools, including UCC medical school. Two new medical programmes are due to commence next year - a Graduate Entry Medicine programme in the University of Galway and an undergraduate medicine programme in the University of Limerick.

Munster Technological University has doubled their general nursing intake since 2022, and by 2026 will have also doubled their mental health nursing intake. As well as places offered through the CAO, places are available on tertiary programmes in General Nursing (75 places) and Mental Health Nursing (50 places). These programmes are offered in partnership with Cork ETB and Kerry ETB and are available at a variety of locations throughout the two counties.

Further tertiary programmes are available in General Nursing in ATU in partnership with Donegal ETB, Galway and Roscommon ETB, and Mayo Sligo and Leitrim ETB, in Intellectual Disability Nursing in DkIT in partnership with Cavan and Monaghan ETB, and in Intellectual Disability Nursing in SETU in partnership with Waterford and Wexford ETB.

A new Nursing School has also opened in Maynooth University this year, with an initial intake of 30 students. Over the coming years, they expect to expand their annual intake to 100 students per year, with half of their places being allocated to students coming through routes that don't require CAO points, such as mature entry or entry via a PLC course.

Planning is underway for further expansion of training places in healthcare courses in future academic years, in collaboration with the Higher Education Authority and Government partners.