Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 July 2012
143 Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of students who have undertaken and are currently undertaking the graduate medicine programme; the locations at which this course is available; the respective course fees; the degree to which this programme has achieved its stated purpose; and the way he will ensure that entry to these courses is not determined by ability to pay. [33663/12]
View answerThe graduate entry medicine (GEM) programme commenced in 2007/08 and has an annual EU intake of 240 students in four institutions: UCD (77), UCC (38), UL (95) and RCSI (30). Information regarding the numbers who have undertaken these programmes is not readily available. I have asked the Higher Education Authority to collate this data and it will be forwarded to the deputy when available. Each institution is responsible for setting its tuition fees which, in 2011/2012, were as follows: UCD (€13,915), UCC (€13,580), UL (€13,915) and RCSI (€15,940). The fees of EU students are partly subsidised by the State through the Higher Education Authority. For 2011/12 this subsidy amounted to €11,000 per EU student.
The establishment of a Graduate Medicine Programme was a specific recommendation of the Report of the Working Group on Undergraduate Medical Education and Training (the ‘Fottrell Report') published in 2006. The Report made a number of recommendations in relation to the reform of medical education and training. It specifically saw the introduction of GEM as a means to increase the number of EU medicine graduates in the context of an evolving health care system and growing population needs. The first cohort of students graduated in 2011.
