I propose to take Questions Nos. 1067, 1068 and 1069 together.
Officials from my Department have been engaging regularly with Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to ascertain possible expansion on existing programmes from 2023, including in the health and social care professions.
The Department of Health have recently given a written commitment to this Department as to the availability of the corresponding clinical placements required to provide these places and this has been communicated to the HEIs.
As a result of engagements between my Department and the HEIs, I was very pleased to announce in July that over 400 permanent additional places would be made available across the health and social care professions from September 2023, of which 5 additional places are in Radiation Therapy.
Last year my Department established a working group to identify and address barriers to expansion in the health and social care professions, including radiation therapy. This working group has included representatives from the Department of Health, the HSE, CORU, the higher education sector as well as my Department. This group looked at at both incremental expansion from September 2023, and enabling more substantial expansion in the medium term. I look forward to working with the Deputy on this going forward.
The HSE is developing a Framework for Practice Placement Education. I understand that the Department of Health have also recently appointed a HSCP Officer to lead on enabling expansion in health and social care professions. It should be noted that 2022/2023 data has not been released yet by the HEA for comparison purposes year on year.