I propose to take Questions Nos. 14, 15 and 18 together.
Ireland has a very strict regulatory regime which ensures that only competent and properly qualified medical staff can work in this country. No doctor is allowed to practise medicine without being registered in Ireland by the medical council. The council was established under the Medical Practitioners Act, 1978, and registers doctors who qualify from Irish medical schools. It also registers doctors who have been educated and trained in other jurisdictions before they can practise medicine in Ireland. The medical council has authority to register doctors from other EU member states who have rights to practise here under EU freedom of movement directives. I know the council works closely with registration bodies in other jurisdictions, including the general medical council in the United Kingdom.
Once properly registered a doctor is entitled to practise here. For those doctors seeking employment in the public hospital system, as for any other prospective employee, it is the responsibility of employing authorities to check references and previous employment histories of candidates prior to employing them. Specifically in relation to hospital consultants, the Department has recently issued a circular to all employing authorities on the need to ensure that these matters are in order prior to consultants taking up duty on either a permanent or locum basis.