Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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754. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills whether his Department is engaged with Project Home or similar initiatives to encourage Irish graduates in healthcare and other critical sectors to return to Ireland; if so, the nature of that engagement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41301/26]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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I am aware of Project Home, which is an initiative led by the HSE and referenced in wider engagement across the health system. It is designed as a targeted attraction and engagement strategy to encourage Irish healthcare professionals working overseas to return to Ireland

Responsibility for workforce recruitment and retention in the health sector, including initiatives such as Project Home, rests with the Minister for Health and the Department of Health, in conjunction with the HSE.

My Department’s primary role is to support the supply of graduates through the higher and further education system. In this context, my officials work closely with colleagues in the Department of Health and the HSE to ensure that education and training provision is aligned with workforce needs, including through expansion of places across priority healthcare disciplines and ongoing engagement on workforce planning.

While my Department is not directly responsible for, nor does it lead, initiatives aimed at attracting graduates back to Ireland, we remain engaged at a system level with the Department of Health to support a coordinated approach to addressing skills and workforce needs in the health sector.

To support this work, the Government is delivering a significant, system-wide expansion of healthcare education capacity to strengthen the domestic pipeline of graduates. Since 2022, this has included the addition of substantial new places across medicine, nursing and the health and social care professions. This includes 200 additional undergraduate medicine places agreed in 2022, alongside growth in disciplines such as physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, radiography and other priority areas. Within the health and social care professions specifically, this has amounted to an increase of in the region of 450 additional places since 2023, representing a very significant expansion in training capacity, including targeted additionality for Irish and EU students.

Notwithstanding this progress, workforce modelling indicates that demand for healthcare professionals continues to exceed supply in a number of areas. Accordingly, further expansion is planned through the Higher Education Authority’s current Expression of Interest process, which is expected to support additional places from the 2026/27 academic year, subject to approval. This next phase of expansion is focused on ensuring that growth is aligned with verified workforce need and clinical placement capacity, with the objective of delivering a sustainable pipeline of graduates to meet the evolving needs of the healthcare system.