4104. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if advice will be provided to a student (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63898/26]

Under legislation, Irish higher education institutions are autonomous in relation to admissions decisions. Admission to undergraduate medicine uses the CAO (Central Applications Office) process combined with the HPAT (Health Professions Assessment Test).

The CAO operates independently on behalf of participating higher education institutions and processes applications and offers in accordance with criteria determined by those institutions. The HPAT is independently administered by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) on behalf of the higher education institutions’ medical schools and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI). My Department does not have any direct role in relation to individual admissions decisions and cannot intervene in the CAO or HPAT processes.

My Department has made significant progress in expanding medical education capacity in recent years. In 2026, 20 additional medicine places are being added to complete the 200 additional medicine student place expansion by 2026 which was agreed in July 2022. In February, I announced a €28.5 million investment to support the delivery of more than 1,100 additional healthcare training places annually over the next three years across medicine, nursing, therapy professions, pharmacy and dentistry.

Students who wish to study medicine may find it helpful to visit the HSE Career Hub Medicine Page available at: careerhub.hse.ie/pathways_medicine/.

which provides information on the pathways into medicine in Ireland.