New pharmacy degree opens in bid to double sector's graduate numbers
Applications for a new pharmacy degree at University of Galway have now opened, under a plan to double the number of graduates in the sector.
Higher Education Minister James Lawless has launched the new pharmacy programme that will provide 75 new student places per year when fully up and running, with 45 places available for the first intake this September.
The new degree is part of a major expansion of healthcare education announced under Budget 2025.
It includes new pharmacy programmes at three universities: University of Galway, which will commence in 2025, and Atlantic Technological University (ATU) and South East Technological University (SETU), which will commence in 2026. This will double the number of pharmacy training programmes in Ireland from three to six and, at full capacity, will provide over 150 additional pharmacy graduates per year.
The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland is also commencing a new bachelor of dental surgery course in September 2025 under the same initiative.
Other courses due to commence in 2026 include a direct-entry medicine programme in the University of Limerick.
"We are not only enhancing regional access to pharmacy education but also ensuring that communities across Ireland will benefit from a new generation of highly-trained, innovative, and patient-centred pharmacists," Mr Lawless said.
James Lawless said 'communities across Ireland will benefit from a new generation of highly-trained, innovative, and patient-centred pharmacists'. Picture: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie
Meanwhile, new research reveals that science, technology, engineering, and maths (Stem) skills are even more critical to Ireland amid global trade instability.
Almost three quarters of Irish adults questioned as part of the Interaction Research survey believe that Stem is core to the economy, amid international trade-war threats, with 80% agreeing that the Government should do more to address the high drop-out rates of Stem students in third-level courses.
Newly-appointed chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Erin McGreehan said: "As global competition intensifies, we must ensure that students are not only encouraged to pursue Stem pathways but are fully supported to complete their studies and transition into the workforce.
"The Government is committed to working with education providers and industry to reduce dropout rates, strengthen progression routes, and secure the Stem talent Ireland needs to thrive in an increasingly complex global economy.'
Separate research, published by Engineers Ireland earlier this year, shows that over a third of engineering employers have reported taking six to 12 months to fill engineering vacancies, while just 9.8% of graduates in Ireland come from engineering disciplines, almost half the global average.
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