Rules governing the registration of non-EU doctors in Irish hospitals are to be relaxed.
Commitments have been given to the Irish Medical Organisation, within the past few days, by the Minister for Health and Children, Mr Martin, that these doctors will be entitled to full registration after two years. At present they must have five years' service and gain a number of post-graduate qualifications.
The legislation will be passed before the end of the current Dáil to avert a situation where hundreds of non-EU doctors in Irish hospitals would be forced to leave Ireland. There are about 1,500 non-EU doctors working in the public health service.
They comprise more than 60 per cent of registrars and almost 50 per cent of senior house officers. Under existing legislation many of them would lose their registration status by June 2002.
The new legislation will bring Irish rules into line with those in the UK, where many Irish-trained foreign doctors are moving. Without the changes it would be impossible for the Government to meet its commitments to cut the maximum hours of junior doctors to 48 hours by 2005, or expand services.
Yesterday the chairman of the non-EU doctors advisory committee of the IMO, Dr Asam Ishtiaq, welcomed Mr Martin's decision. "We sincerely hope this amendment will go a long way towards attracting foreign medical graduates to Ireland and will help to train and retain them in the system."
He said the move was "very important" in terms of meeting commitments on working hours and in ensuring there was "a highly skilled and Irish-trained workforce for the expected expansion of the health services".