TSS for NCHDs in 2026/27: what you can claim and how

If you hold the 2010 NCHD contract, you have a yearly training allowance called the Training Support Scheme (TSS). It pays for exams, courses, conferences and a few other items, but it doesn’t roll over: whatever you don’t claim by the July changeover is gone. Here is what the HSE policy for 2026/27 says, in plain English.

Who is eligible

The TSS is a contractual entitlement for both training and non-training NCHDs. You qualify if you hold a current HSE NCHD contract (2010) for a minimum of 12 weeks and work in an HSE-funded post.

• On a training scheme: your first employer after the July changeover should assign the full year’s allowance, and the balance follows you as you rotate.
• Not on a training scheme: you get a pro-rata amount for the length of your contract. A six-month July to December contract gives you 50%; if you then take a post elsewhere from January, that employer adds the rest.
• Interns: the full annual amount, assigned by your first employer.
• Less than full time or flexible training: pro rata.
• Maternity, paternity and sick leave: your entitlement is unaffected.
• Not eligible: agency NCHDs, university contracts, doctors on a career break, and private or research posts without the 2010 contract.

One catch: if you are paid from the TSS and then resign before completing 12 weeks’ service, you have to repay it.

How much you get

Grade	TSS allowance per training year
Intern	€1,250
SHO or registrar	€1,750
SpR, GP registrar or psychiatry SR on a training scheme	€2,500

A training year runs from the second Monday in July to the second Monday in July the following year. Balances reset to zero at each changeover, and nothing carries over. Your Medical Manpower Department sets your balance on the NER system. Check it is right before you submit anything, because it can’t be corrected afterwards.

What you can claim

• Courses and conferences with appropriate CPD/CME accreditation or content, whether national, international or online, including registration fees.
• Meetings of relevant Irish professional bodies.
• Postgraduate study: MD and PhD fees, and Masters, MBA, postgraduate diplomas and certificates with a medical, quality, leadership or management component. Longer courses can be claimed in instalments.
• Exams recommended as part of postgraduate training that are not on the CCERS list, and CCERS-listed exams you did not pass.
• Revision courses, mock exams and question banks for TSS- or CCERS-eligible exams, such as the membership exams. The policy says proof of attendance may not be needed for these.
• Professional fees: your annual Professional Competence Scheme registration, and annual membership of Irish postgraduate training bodies recognised by the Medical Council.
• A laptop or tablet: up to €1,000 from within your allowance (not on top of it), once every four years. It may be subject to benefit-in-kind tax.
• Software: Microsoft 365 Personal, and software needed for a course with a CPD/CME component, such as SPSS, Stata or EndNote.
• Publications: subscriptions to relevant medical publications that you can’t get through the HSE library or your training body, and journal or publication fees for research.
• Printing: printing and binding for courses and exams, and academic posters for conferences.
• Travel, accommodation and subsistence for any of the above, at HSE travel and subsistence rates. This includes travel to a CCERS exam you have passed (the exam fee itself goes through CCERS).

What you can’t claim

• Interview preparation courses
• Training body scheme or interview application fees
• Books and podcasts
• Standalone subscriptions to online learning platforms
• Medical Council and IMO fees, and private indemnity insurance
• UK or international courses and exams when an Irish equivalent exists (the policy gives MRCP(UK) as an example)
• Exams needed to register in other countries, such as the USMLE (unless your Irish training programme requires it), and English language tests
• Medical equipment and accessories
• Conferring fees, social events, and costs for anyone travelling with you
• Travel and accommodation for interviews or study days
• Anything already claimed under CCERS, the CPD Support Scheme or any other source

Medical Manpower assess every claim against the policy’s list (Appendix 1). Consultant approval doesn’t change the outcome: if an item isn’t covered, it can’t be paid.

How to claim on NER

1. Check your balance in the TSS section of your NER account (web portal or NER app). A lock symbol usually means no balance has been assigned, you haven’t been matched to a post, your IMC number is missing from your hire form, or the system is in its year-end lockdown. Your Medical Manpower Department can fix the first three.
2. Wait until after the event. There are no advance claims. For exams, wait for your result: if you passed an exam on the CCERS list, claim the fee through CCERS instead.
3. Make one application per event. Put the fee, travel and accommodation for the same course, exam or conference in the same claim.
4. Attach your documents as PDF or JPEG files under 5 MB: the receipt in your own name, proof of attendance (a letter, email or exam result), CPD/CME accreditation for courses and conferences, and any travel or accommodation receipts.
5. Tick the declaration and press Submit, not “Save and Exit”. Unsubmitted claims sit in your Edit Application list and never reach Medical Manpower.
6. Track it. You get email updates as the status changes. Payment should arrive within 4 to 6 weeks of approval; if it hasn’t after 6 weeks, contact your Medical Manpower Department.

Your consultant doesn’t need to approve a TSS claim. Educational leave is a separate entitlement, applied for through your hospital’s usual process.

Tips that save claims

• Claim before you move. Claims not actioned within 28 days of leaving a site become “unprocessed”. You can resubmit them to your new employer if you are still eligible, but once you no longer hold the 2010 contract, anything unclaimed is lost.
• Don’t put a passed CCERS exam through TSS. CCERS pays the full fee without touching your allowance, and once a TSS claim is approved you can’t move it to CCERS.
• Missed the CCERS six-month window? You can claim the exam under TSS instead, as long as it meets the TSS criteria.
• Ran out of balance last year? You can claim an eligible item from the previous training year against this year’s balance.
• Keep your receipts for six years. Claims can be audited, and receipts must be in your own name.
• Paid in another currency? That’s fine, as long as the item itself is eligible.
• Don’t leave it to July. New applications close for four weeks after the deadline while the year is closed off.

If a claim is rejected and you disagree, raise it first with the Medical Manpower Department that made the decision. HSE NDTP doesn’t handle individual queries from NCHDs.

Can I claim SJT and CPST preparation?

Many of our readers are preparing for the ICGP GP training SJT and CPST, so here is our honest reading of the policy.

The TSS covers revision courses, mock exams and question banks for TSS- or CCERS-eligible exams. The SJT and CPST are the selection assessment for entry to GP training rather than an exam within postgraduate training. The policy doesn’t mention preparation for them, and it specifically excludes interview preparation courses and training body application fees.

So don’t buy any SJT or CPST resource, ours included, on the assumption that TSS will pay for it. Your Medical Manpower Department makes the decision, so ask them first if you’d like to claim.

Once you are on the GP training scheme, the picture changes. Revision courses, mocks and question banks for the MICGP exams are covered by the TSS, and the exams themselves are refunded through CCERS when you pass. See our CCERS guide.

Other HSE supports worth knowing

• CCERS: refunds the full cost of exams and clinical courses on an approved list once you pass, separately from your TSS allowance. Read our CCERS guide.
• CPD Support Scheme (CPD-SS): if you are enrolled on a Professional Competence Scheme, you can access up to 20 free credits a year of education provided through the postgraduate training bodies.
• Specialist Training Fund: €500 per training year for higher specialist trainees and third- and fourth-year GP trainees, towards specialist equipment and textbooks needed for the training programme. It rolls over, and you apply through your training body.