Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 29 September 2026
911. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the approved intake capacity and number of available first-year places, as distinct from actual enrolments, for medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, physiotherapy and veterinary medicine programmes in each higher education institution in each academic year from 2021-2022 to 2026-2027; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [68438/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Government has significantly expanded healthcare education capacity in recent years to support healthcare workforce planning, the implementation of Sláintecare and the delivery of Programme for Government commitments. Since 2022, Government approvals have enabled capacity-building for approximately 1,697 additional annual healthcare and disability training places across medicine, nursing, dentistry, pharmacy, veterinary medicine, physiotherapy and other health and social care professions.
This additional capacity includes:
• 200 additional annual medicine places delivered through the 2022 Medicine Expansion Agreement;
• 612 additional annual places across medicine, nursing, pharmacy and veterinary medicine approved through the 2022 healthcare education expansion process;
• the establishment of new pharmacy programmes at Atlantic Technological University (ATU), South East Technological University (SETU) and University of Galway;
• the establishment of a new dentistry programme at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI);
• the establishment of two new veterinary medicine programmes at ATU and SETU, providing an additional 80 veterinary medicine places annually and approximately doubling the number of veterinary medicine places available to Irish and EU students;
• 461 additional disability therapy places approved through the 2025 healthcare education expansion process, including significant expansion of physiotherapy capacity; and
• a further 274 healthcare training places approved by Government in July 2026 across a range of health and social care professions, including additional physiotherapy places.
While my Department provides funding to support the expansion of healthcare education capacity, it does not set or approve annual caps on the number of places offered on individual programmes. Under the Universities Act 1997 and the Higher Education Authority Act 2022, higher education institutions are autonomous bodies with responsibility for admissions policies, programme delivery and determining the number of places made available on individual programmes, subject to available resources, professional accreditation requirements and regulatory obligations.
The Higher Education Authority (HEA) collects annual enrolment data from higher education institutions. As the number of places made available is a matter for individual institutions, the closest available centrally held measure is the number of first-year students enrolled on the relevant programmes. The available data are set out below.
|
Medicine - First-Year Enrolments
Institution |
2021/22 |
2022/23 |
2023/24 |
2024/25 |
|
Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (Undergraduate) |
130 |
120 |
115 |
115 |
|
Trinity College Dublin |
175 |
190 |
165 |
185 |
|
University College Cork |
115 |
130 |
125 |
125 |
|
University College Dublin |
125 |
135 |
160 |
165 |
|
University of Galway |
205 |
210 |
210 |
215 |
|
Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (Graduate Entry) |
75 |
80 |
90 |
80 |
|
University College Cork (Graduate Entry) |
80 |
80 |
75 |
80 |
|
University College Dublin (Graduate Entry) |
100 |
105 |
105 |
100 |
|
University of Limerick (Graduate Entry) |
180 |
195 |
180 |
190 |
|
Total |
1,185 |
1,245 |
1,225 |
1,255 |
|
Dentistry - First-Year Enrolments
Institution |
2021/22 |
2022/23 |
2023/24 |
2024/25 |
|
Trinity College Dublin |
50 |
50 |
45 |
45 |
|
University College Cork |
45 |
55 |
55 |
55 |
|
Total |
95 |
105 |
100 |
100 |
|
Pharmacy - First-Year Enrolments
Institution |
2021/22 |
2022/23 |
2023/24 |
2024/25 |
|
Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland |
80 |
85 |
90 |
135 |
|
Trinity College Dublin |
95 |
85 |
90 |
90 |
|
University College Cork |
135 |
145 |
140 |
145 |
|
Total |
335 |
310 |
325 |
370 |
|
Physiotherapy - First-Year Enrolments
Institution |
2021/22 |
2022/23 |
2023/24 |
2024/25 |
|
Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland |
25 |
30 |
40 |
50 |
|
Trinity College Dublin |
40 |
40 |
35 |
45 |
|
University College Cork |
35 |
35 |
30 |
35 |
|
University College Dublin |
55 |
55 |
55 |
55 |
|
University of Limerick |
30 |
30 |
30 |
35 |
|
Total |
185 |
190 |
190 |
220 |
|
Veterinary Medicine - First-Year Enrolments
Institution |
2021/22 |
2022/23 |
2023/24 |
2024/25 |
|
University College Dublin |
85 |
90 |
90 |
85 |
|
Total |
85 |
90 |
90 |
85 |
The HEA is currently collecting and validating enrolment data for the 2025/26 academic year. Accordingly, final enrolment data for the 2025/26 and 2026/27 academic years are not yet available.
