The Higher Education Minister has announced new courses and programmes that will have a "transformative" impact on third-level healthcare places.
SETU, ATU, and the University of Galway will introduce new pharmacy programmes, doubling the number of pharmacy training programmes in Ireland.
An undergraduate entry medicine course is also being introduced to UL and the University of Galway, while there's a new dentistry bachelor at RCSI.
Minister for Higher Education Patrick O'Donovan says offering these courses gives students the opportunity to train at home:
"I think it's far better that a person is able to qualify as a pharmacist in ATU than having to go to Aberdeen and I think it's far better that a young person is able to become a doctor in Limerick rather than having to go to Bournemouth."
Minister O'Donovan added that it's important to introduce these courses regionally:
"We are taking regional areas that haven't had any sort of healthcare discipline education and really doing what we said we would do as a government into these universities which are giving them opportunities to attract students that they otherwise wouldn't be able to attract and we've already done it with veterinary."
Waterford TD Marc Ó Cathasaigh has warmly welcomed the announcement of the successful securing of a new pharmacy programme by South East Technological University.
Ó Cathasaigh said “After the excellent recent news that SETU was successful in their application for a new veterinary programme, it is being announced this morning that they will also be assigned a new pharmacy programme. This is fantastic news for the university, for students, for the wider healthcare system, and for Waterford and the South East region.
This is the joined-up thinking we need. We know the pressure that is on our healthcare system and the difficulties in recruitment across key disciplines. We are providing extra higher education places to train our future healthcare workforce and I am delighted to see those places being made available in SETU”
He went on “Our next challenge is to ensure that progress is made on the Engineering Building for SETU. I have raised this in the Dáil this week with Minister Paschal O’Donohoe and will continue to push for its delivery.”
The new programmes are part of a broader government strategy to expand veterinary and healthcare education and ensure a steady pipeline of qualified professionals to meet the needs of Ireland’s growing population.
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