Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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256. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if his Department has carried out any analysis of university courses in which maximum Leaving Certificate points did not guarantee admission due to demand; if he will list the courses where this applied alongside the number of places available through the CAO for these courses and the number of places available for International students in those courses, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29007/26]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are autonomous and manage their own academic affairs including admissions procedures. The Central Applications Office (CAO) is an independent body whose function is to process applications for undergraduate courses on behalf of the HEIs. Decisions on admissions to undergraduate courses are made by the HEIs who instruct the CAO to make offers to successful candidates. Neither I nor my Department have a role in the operation of the CAO, and my Department does not hold the requested course-level breakdown of CAO places or international student places.

The CAO publishes annual points tables and indicates where random selection was required at a given points score. This information is publicly available and can be accessed by the Deputy on the CAO's website.

The Deputy may be aware that my Department has invested significantly to expand capacity in recent years, with around 1,000 additional permanent places added in high-demand courses, particularly in health and social care. This has seen some moderation in points requirements for certain high-demand courses. Further expansion is planned for this academic year, including in Medicine, Nursing, Dentistry, Physiotherapy and Pharmacy.