Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 14 July 2026
704. Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Minister for Health the estimated cost in 2027 of a 7.5% uplift in medical interns, GP, basic specialist and higher specialist training places; and the number of additional places this would create, in tabular form. [52648/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraSignificant growth in Non-Consultant Hospital Doctor (NCHD) postgraduate medical training places and the number of doctors in training has been achieved in recent years, and this work is ongoing. Work is progressing between the Department of Health and HSE National Doctors Training & Planning (NDTP) to increase the number of postgraduate medical training places, informed by long term-term medical workforce planning projections.
The following information is provided by HSE NDTP:
|
- |
Additional posts based on 7.5% increase |
Additional Salary & Training costs of 7.5% increase in intake* |
|
Medical Interns |
69 additional posts |
€4.06 million p.a. |
|
BST/IST (Basic/Initial Specialist Training) Intake |
77 additional posts |
€6.12 million p.a. |
|
HST (Higher Specialist Training) Intake |
33 additional posts |
€3.42 million p.a. |
|
Total |
178 additional posts |
€13.6 million p.a. |
*Please note the following:
• Assumes establishment of new NCHD posts to accommodate increase in trainees, including GP trainees. The HSE midpoint salary scales have been used to estimate salary costs and associated PRSI above. Trainees may occupy any of the following grades – Intern, Senior House Officer, Registrar, and Specialist Registrar with salaries currently ranging between €52,500 - €115,000 depending on the grade held. The estimated salary costs do not include overtime costs.
• The costs outlined are re-occurring and cumulative, given the duration of BST programmes range between 2-4 years, and HST programmes range between 4-6 years.
• The training costs included above reflect the direct costs of delivering specialist training, including funding provided to the Postgraduate Medical Training Bodies under existing Service Level Agreements. However, increasing training capacity also has wider resource implications within the health service that are not readily quantifiable. These include the additional consultant time devoted to supervision and assessment, protected training time for trainees, and the associated service implications of facilitating participation in mandatory educational and training activities. These costs will vary considerably across specialties, clinical sites and models of service delivery.
