Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 11 December 2025
243. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the planned additional course provision in high demand areas such as medicine, pharmacy and nursing. [67598/25]
View answerMy Department has secured significant investment to expand course provision in high-demand healthcare areas over 2025–2026. This expansion is a key part of our strategy to address workforce shortages and ensure Ireland can meet growing healthcare needs.
In medicine, there is a new undergraduate medical programme launching in the University of Limerick in 2026, and a Rural and Remote Graduate Entry Medicine in the University of Galway in 2027. These new programmes will delivery 78 additional places per year when up and running.
2026 will also see the final 20 places created of the 200 new medicine places announced in 2022. This increase represents a 27% increase in medical education capacity since 2022.
Recently, I was delighted to help launch a new School of Nursing in Maynooth, marking a significant development for both the University and Irish healthcare. The first intake of 27 students began the BSc in General Nursing in September, with numbers due to rise to 100 within four years to meet national demand for nursing education aligned with Sláintecare. There have also been a number new tertiary nursing programmes created, with a total of 175 places available this year.
The HEA are currently engaging with the higher education institutions regarding further expansion in nursing and in medicine for 2026 and beyond.
There is significant expansion planned across a number of other crucial healthcare disciplines. 2025 saw the launch of two new pharmacy programmes - one in the University of Galway and one in Atlantic Technological University. A third new programme is launching in South East Technological University in 2026. These new programmes - as well as additional pharmacy places delivered in RCSI - provide 161 additional places in pharmacy, almost doubling additional training capacity.
A new dentistry programme launched in RCSI this year with 20 place for Irish and EU students, with this increasing to 35 places by 2027. Up to 80 veterinary places will be offered in 2026 in two new veterinary schools in ATU and SETU.
In addition, 461 new health and social care places are being created in key disciplines such as physiotherapy, speech and language therapy and occupational therapy. Around 300 of these places came on stream in 2025, with the remainder to follow in 2026 and 2027. My officials and the HEA are initiating a further process to increase training capacity in the disciplines needed for our health and disability services.
Ireland also continues to co-fund healthcare training places in Northern Ireland, with places provided in medicine and nursing this year for students from this jurisdiction. This collaboration complements domestic expansion and ensures more students have access to high-quality healthcare education opportunities.
My officials will continue to work with colleagues across government, agencies and the higher education sector to ensure that we are training the skilled professionals our health services need.
