Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 January 2026
1085. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science to urgently intervene in the case of a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4188/26]
View answerThe provision of clinical placements is a matter arranged by individual Higher Education Institutions and the HSE and other healthcare providers. My Department does not have a direct role in the provision of placements. In the case of social work training, both the HSE and Tusla provide clinical placements, as required by the regulator CORU. These agencies also provide the professional staff to support students while on placement. In relation to the Health and Social Care Professions, the HSE is required to facilitate practice education under Section 7 (4) the Health Act 2004.
Providers of health and social care training programmes have reported significant challenges in securing guaranteed clinical placements required for their students. This has been a critical issue for the expansion of student places on these programmes. Mandatory clinical placement hours are a requirement for entry to practice programmes, without which Health and Social Care Profession students cannot complete their programmes, graduate and join the workforce. My officials are actively engaging with the Department of Health and the HSE on determining the medium and long term skills needs of the healthcare services, and supporting the identification of clinical support needs by those relevant bodies and the role which the further and higher education sector can play in meeting those skills needs. Ensuring all students have access to their required clinical placements continues to form a critical part of these engagements. Where additional places in health and social care disciplines are created Department of Health and HSE are engaging to ensure that corresponding placements are made available. My Department will continue to engage with all stakeholders to ensure that we deliver graduates with the skills necessary to support our health and social care system and support the strategic workforce planning by the health and social care sector.
