Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 July 2021
2148. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Health if he will increase the number of clinical placements that can be facilitated by the health service for nurses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28722/21]
View answerAs the Deputy may be aware, the provision of clinical placements for student nurses and midwives is a matter for my colleague the Minister of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science.
Clinical placements are directly linked to the number of higher education places for nursing and midwifery. I am pleased to inform the Deputy that an additional 199 undergraduate nursing and midwifery places have been made available for the coming academic year, 2021/22, along with the associated clinical placements. This is in addition to the 153 additional places provided for the 2020/21 academic year. The total number of available undergraduate nursing and midwifery places for 2021/2022 will be 2,180.
