Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 January 2024
75. Deputy Peter Fitzpatrick asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he will expand on the funding for which students from the Republic of Ireland can apply for in respect of medicine places in universities in Belfast and Derry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1717/24]
View answerI ask the Minister to expand on the funding for which students from the Republic of Ireland can apply in the context of places on medicine courses at universities in Belfast and Derry, and to make a statement on the matter.
I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. It is important that we look at all the resources available on the island of Ireland when it comes to education, particularly in the context of trying to provide the number of graduates we require for our public services. We have started with nursing and therapy posts. This year, students from across the island of Ireland are availing of nursing courses and therapy positions in Northern Ireland. The interest in therapy positions - speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and the likes - was so significant we had to increase rom 50 to 80 the number of places we were funding in Northern Ireland. We now wish to look at how we can do this in respect of medicine.
Putting aside politics, political vacuums and everything else for the moment, we know the people of Ireland move around the island of Ireland. A person living in Donegal who needs cancer treatment is likely to get it in Altnagelvin. A sick baby in Belfast who needs a life-saving heart operation is likely to get it in Dublin. It makes sense to look at the all-island approach to these matters.
As the Deputy will be aware, increasing the number of medical graduates is a priority for the Government, me and the Minister for Health. Working with the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, in July 2022 I received Government approval to progress work to increase by 200 the number of medicine places in universities throughout Ireland. This was a multi-annual agreement, with 60 of these places introduced in 2022, 60 last year and a further 40 this year. This has had a significant impact. That is evident from the fact that for the first time in a decade or so, the points for medicine fell.
As part of the Government agreement, my Department sought to progress work to secure places for Irish students in medical schools in Northern Ireland. Under this approach, students would be eligible to apply for an internship in the HSE on graduation. Students may also be eligible for a maintenance grant under SUSI, the student grant scheme. My officials have been working closely with the institutions in the North and the Departments for health and the economy in Northern Ireland through the past 18 months to develop a proposal that would lead to more medical places for Irish students in the North and increase the pool of Irish medical graduates educated on the island who would be eligible to apply to work in the HSE. The final details of the proposal are now being worked through. As such, I am not currently in a position to expand further on the funding arrangements. However, I expect to be in a position to make a further announcement in the coming weeks.
I received an email from a third-year medical student who is attending Ulster University. The course is located on Magee campus in Derry and, this year, the students are based in hospitals throughout the east Trust in Northern Ireland. Many of those studying medicine at Ulster University are from the Republic of Ireland. The student was shocked to find out this week that upon their graduation in 2025, it is unlikely they will be able to apply for internship posts and work as doctors in the Republic of Ireland. This is due to the HSE requiring transcripts of their final degree from the university at an earlier date than is possible. The issue in relation to administration means that many students who wish to work in the Republic of Ireland will instead opt for a two-year foundation training course located in the UK. The student states it is disappointing that these issues have not been resolved despite the HSE being aware of the course for the past three years, and probably many years prior to that. The student further states that at a time when retention in the HSE system is critical, it is ridiculous not to allow medical students the chance to work in the Republic of Ireland. The student asks the Minister to discuss the matter and to provide a resolution, if not awareness, to most of the issues that have been raised.
This is a serious situation. The Minister has made funding available for medical students to attend these universities. We are paying for them to study medicine. These students want to come and work in the Republic of Ireland but they are not being allowed to do so.
I thank the Deputy for sharing that information from his constituent who is studying on the Magee campus of Ulster University in Derry. I will raise that matter directly with the Minister for Health. I should be clear that what I am doing with the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, in respect of the courses and places we intend to fund will be from this coming September. Without knowing the details, it sounds like the student in question is already studying in Northern Ireland in advance of the new scheme and initiative I am hoping to put in place for this September in Belfast and hopefully in Derry. If the Deputy provides details of the matter to me, I will be happy to raise it with the Minister, Deputy Donnelly. He and all the Government wish to ensure we attract as many doctors as possible, particularly doctors and students who are studying on the island of Ireland, to work in the Irish health service.
In the coming weeks, I will be finalising with the universities in Northern Ireland their capacity and appetite for accepting funding from the Government to provide medicine places that can be ring-fenced for students from this jurisdiction. It is an important initiative to keep people studying on the island of Ireland. With the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, we will be finalising what that means in terms of opportunities on graduation for internship and placements within the HSE.
I am surprised that no one else has contacted the Minister on the matter. In fairness, the Government is subsidising these medical students to go to Northern Ireland. The difference is that students from Northern Ireland who wish to attend university there have to pay up to £10,000 or £11,000 to do so.
My big concern is that a recent ESRI study showed Ireland will need at least another 2,600 doctors in hospitals by 2025. Many of the doctors training in the Republic of Ireland are going abroad. This issue is on our doorstep. I am disappointed at the current situation. The constituency offices of all Members are being visited by people whose doctors have retired or who cannot get an appointment.
At the moment they are depending on the HSE to get them a doctor. The situation is very simple. The HSE is not doing its work as far as I am concerned. The Minister is responsible for the payment of these fees. It is very important that he and the HSE sit down. These students want to come and train as doctors in the Republic of Ireland. I am sure there is a good reason they have to go to Northern Ireland to be trained. As I said, we are looking for doctors and these doctors are on our doorstep. This a very serious situation. As a former Minister for Health and current Minister for further education, Deputy Harris is the most suitable Minister to sort out this situation.
I thank the Deputy for the vote of confidence in me. This is a very important issue for his constituent and I will certainly take it up with the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly. I need to be clear for the record of the House. The initiative I am talking about has not yet commenced. It is commencing from September. We are not currently funding those places for students in Northern Ireland. It is a statement of fact that students in Northern Ireland pay much higher fees than students here. A registration fee in Ireland is €3,000 and we have reduced it for two years in a row to €2,000, in addition to SUSI support, student grants and the likes. In Northern Ireland, people pay many multiples of that and many avail of student loans and the like. What I want to do, and I am working with the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, to do it, is put in place a system where students from this jurisdiction can study medicine in Northern Ireland at the rates we charge here, not the higher rates in Northern Ireland, and that we would look to bridge the gap.
We have presided over the biggest increase in medicine places in the Republic of Ireland in many years, with 60 extra places in 2022, 60 in 2023 and 40 more places this year, as well as the discussions with Northern Ireland, for all the reasons the Deputy rightly outlined. Our people need more doctors. On the specific issue, I am very happy to co-ordinate a response to the Deputy and to engage with the Minister for Health.
