Harris: New college places will mean 'top-performing' students are not forced to study abroad
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly, Further and Higher Education Minister Simon Harris, and Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue announcing plans to increase the number of veterinary and healthcare college places. Picture: Brian Lawless/PA
New college places in healthcare and veterinary medicine have the potential to reduce the number of "top performing" Irish students forced to study abroad, according to the Minister for Further and Higher Education.
Simon Harris was speaking as he, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly, and Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue announced plans to significantly increase healthcare and veterinary medicine training here.
It comes as the Higher Education Authority (HEA) recommended a third-level expansion that could see Ireland train almost 1,400 more doctors, nurses, dentists, pharmacists, and vets each year.
The HEA also recommended almost tripling the number of vets trained here by significantly expanding places at the only course in the country while also opening three new veterinary schools.
Currently, many Irish students travel abroad to study dentistry, medicine, and veterinary medicine. We have the potential to provide more training opportunities in crucial public service industries, Mr Harris said.
“We also have the potential to reduce the number of young Irish students who are going abroad at the moment every year at great cost and great logistical difficulty no doubt.
“Some of our top performing students in our second level schools who do their very best in their Leaving Cert, perhaps even get the best results in their Leaving Cert, and still find themselves not able to get their place here. That's not good enough, and that's what we need to try and fix.”
Currently, many colleges rely on the fees generated from international students studying courses such as medicine to help address shortfalls in core funding.
Irish universities must be funded sustainably, Mr. Harris said. “As a welcoming country, we want to welcome people from abroad to study here as Irish people go abroad to study too and we want to make sure that we sustainably fund our own universities as well.”
The Irish Dental Association said it is “cautiously optimistic” about what the announcement means for Irish school leavers wishing to practice dentistry here.
While it is not the only factor, the decades of underinvestment in our dental schools have absolutely contributed to the lack of dental graduates coming through the system each year, it added.
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