Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 26 Mar 2003

Vol. 563 No. 5

Written Answers - Therapy Training Places.

Olwyn Enright

Question:

189 Ms Enright asked the Minister for Education and Science the way in which he intends to ensure an adequate supply of therapists in view of the fact that there is a need for an increase in the number of physiotherapy training places as well as occupational therapy and speech and language therapy training places, that graduates from new courses will not graduate until 2005 and 2007 and that the Bacon report suggests that shortages in the therapy area will not be completely solved in 2015. [8509/03]

Minister for Education and Science (Mr. N. Dempsey)

In May 2002, my predecessor, Deputy Woods, announced the provision of 175 additional therapy training places to tackle the shortage of physiotherapists, occupational therapists and speech and language therapists as identified by the report, Current and Future Supply and Demand Conditions in the Labour Market for Certain Professional Therapists, which was undertaken by Dr. Peter Bacon and Associates in 2001. The announcement followed on the work of an inter-agency working group comprising representatives from my Department, the Department of Health and Children and the Higher Education Authority, which was established to ensure the provision of these extra places and which considered proposals received from a number of third level institutions for the expansion of existing courses and-or the introduction of new courses, including graduate entry programmes.

The distribution of the additional places is as follows: University College Cork, National University of Ireland, 25 places – bachelor of science in speech and language therapy, and 25 places – bachelor of science in occupational therapy; National University of Ireland, Galway, 25 places – bachelor of science in speech and language therapy, and 25 places – bachelor of science in occupational therapy; University of Limerick, 25 places – master of science in speech and language therapy, 25 places – master of science in occupational therapy, and 25 places – bachelor of science in physiotherapy.

There was an intake to the new physiotherapy course at the University of Limerick in 2002. Preparatory arrangements, including the recruitment of necessary staff, are being made by the institutions concerned to enable first intakes to the other additional courses to commence in 2003. These increases are in addition to previous increases in the number of places provided by institutions with existing courses in the 2000-01 and 2001-02 academic years, in response to a request by the Higher Education Authority to expand provision in light of perceived shortages.

The provision of these extra places takes account of the full analysis set out in the Bacon report and is fully in line with the recommendations made. In this context, although the report acknowledges that even with these increases, the shortage of therapists will not be completely resolved for 15 to 20 years, it also emphasises that an attempt to provide a more immediate solution would risk moving the constraint to the clinical training point and lead to a considerable over-supply of training places in the long-term. The report also stresses the importance of ensuring that the number of places in the adjustment period does not depart greatly from the number which will be needed on an ongoing basis to maintain supply at its new higher level and suggests that one way to move towards this is to make the determination of the number of places as flexible as possible. Such flexibility has been delivered in the manner of the response to the Bacon recommendations through increasing the range of institutions contributing to future supply and widening the nature and type of courses which will be available. For example, the master of science courses in occupational therapy and speech and language therapy, which are due to come on line in the coming academic year, will allow for the release of graduates after two years, as opposed to the four years' duration of the bachelor of science course in these areas.

I assure the Deputy that I am committed to ensuring the provision of the extra places agreed for the therapy areas in line with the expert recommendations of the Bacon report as expeditiously as possible.