Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 9 December 2021
266. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the number of approved undergraduate places, first year intake and final year graduates, graduate output for nursing and midwifery in each of the past five years in tabular form; his plans for increasing graduate output in this field; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60919/21]
View answer267. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the number of approved postgraduate places, first year intake and final year graduates, graduate output, for nursing and midwifery in each of the past five years in tabular form; his plans for increasing postgraduate output in this field; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60920/21]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 266 and 267 together.
Data on new entrants to and graduates from nursing and midwifery courses between from 2016 to 2020 are available in the table below. Due to the way new entrants are recorded, undergraduate new entrants refer to full-time students only while undergraduate graduate figures include both full and part-time students. The postgraduate data refers to postgraduate clinical and scientific courses offered by the schools of nursing, many of which are undertaken by existing medical professionals seeking further training or specialisation.
The intake quota for EU entrants to undergraduate nursing and midwifery stands at 1,819. The current quotas for entry are under review as part of my Department’s ongoing engagements with the Department of Health regarding health workforce planning.
|
Year |
Course Level |
New Entrants |
Graduates |
|
2016 |
Undergraduate |
1702 |
1681 |
|
2016 |
Postgraduate |
1782 |
1424 |
|
2017 |
Undergraduate |
1823 |
1702 |
|
2017 |
Postgraduate |
1800 |
1310 |
|
2018 |
Undergraduate |
1772 |
1892 |
|
2018 |
Postgraduate |
1827 |
1526 |
|
2019 |
Undergraduate |
1808 |
1983 |
|
2019 |
Postgraduate |
2056 |
1648 |
|
2020 |
Undergraduate |
1965 |
2151 |
|
2020 |
Postgraduate |
2513 |
1591 |
The matter of health workforce planning and ensuring an appropriate pipeline of qualified healthcare workers within Ireland is a major priority for my Department. The Programme for Government commits the Department of Health to working with the education sectors, regulators, and professional bodies to improve the availability of health professionals and reform their training to support integrated care across the entire health service. My Department and I are continuing to engage with the Department of Health and other relevant stakeholders to ensure that we can continue to deliver graduates with the skills necessary to support our healthcare system and support the strategic workforce planning by the health sector.
