Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 21 September 2023
24. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Health the criteria that would be used to recruit medical staff from third countries to assist with the staffing crisis that exists within the Irish health services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39628/23]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware all doctors wishing to practice in Ireland must be registered with the Medical Council. The Council is keen to support the HSE in its international recruitment of doctors. The two organisations are working closely to ensure that registration information is given to successful candidates at an early stage of recruitment and that appropriate resources are deployed to deal with application volumes at times of high demand.
The Council has established processes for the assessment of both general and specialist medical qualifications from Ireland, EEA and third countries. In the case of doctors seeking registration on the Specialist Division of the Medical Council’s register who have trained in a third country, their qualifications are typically assessed under a service level agreement with a Post-Graduate Training Body. The Council’s expertise in third country qualification assessment is available to the HSE to assist it in targeting international recruitment campaigns.
The HSE have approved an attractive and competitive relocation package to assist international recruitment of all disciplines. The relocation package includes allowances payable to candidates to meet the initial costs of relocating, such as accommodation and flight allowance.
Additional costs such as registration fees to Regulatory bodies, Visa fees, aptitude test fees are also payable on behalf of the candidate. The exact cost is dependent on where the candidate relocated from, the speciality of the post and any relevant Framework conditions applicable.
