Madam, - I read with incredulity the comment by Mary Harney (The Irish Times, April 30th) that "there are too many barriers to entry to the professions and that such impediments are costing the consumer". The reality is that for medicine, it is not the profession that is putting up the barriers to entry, but this Government.
There is a crisis in medical manpower in Ireland. General practitioner, junior doctor and consultant posts are increasingly difficult to fill. On a number of occasions these posts have had to be re-advertised repeatedly before candidates can be found to even sit for interview.
The Hanly Report has suggested that to meet future staffing requirements we need 767 medical graduates annually for the next 10 years; if anything, this number is an under-estimate. Between 2000 and 2003 the intake of EU students to Irish medical schools fell from 346 to 315.
Funding for medical education was cut in 2002 and 2003. If it were not for fee-paying non EU students, the very viability of medical schools would be in doubt. Of €15.66 million first-year income to the colleges in 2003, 16.8 per cent comes from the national Exchequer. It is scandalous that this Government has stood back and allowed medical education in Ireland to become pauperised.
When I graduated from University College Cork in 1982, the medical schools produced 600 graduates a year. Most of my class mates are in practice in Ireland. From where does the Minister propose the medical manpower needs of the future be met? - Yours, etc.,
Dr EAMONN R. SHANAHAN, Farranfore, Killarney, Co Kerry.