Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 January 2023
1424. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Health if, as part of the Government's commitment to retaining doctors in Ireland, a medical intern doctor job will be made available to every eligible graduating doctor in an Irish medical school in 2023 similar to that which was offered during the Covid-19 pandemic. [1198/23]
View answerPolicy regarding the allocation of medical intern places was put in place in 2016 to ensure that CAO entry medical graduates are guaranteed an internship post following completion of their medical degree. It is a priority that CAO graduates have access to an internship in order that they may qualify as a doctor, obtain full registration with the Medical Council of Ireland, and chose to seek permanent employment in the Irish Health Services.
This protects the State investment in the undergraduate education of medical students. In addition, it supports Ireland’s commitment under the World Health Organization’s Global Code on the Recruitment of International Health Personnel to strive for self-sufficiency in the domestic training of doctors. Under this policy all eligible CAO applicants have been allocated an intern post since 2016.
Applicants for a medical internship are applying for an employment position in the HSE. They are recruited directly by the HSE, as their employer. The HSE applies the Employment Permits legislation in the recruitment for intern posts. In compliance with the Employment Permits Act an order of merit based on work permit status is applied whereby all eligible CAO entrants to Irish medical schools who are work permit exempt are guaranteed an intern post. Remaining posts are allocated to all remaining eligible EEA applicants, followed by all remaining eligible non-EEA applicants.
The number of medical intern places is determined by medical workforce planning requirements. In 2021 I requested the HSE to provide an increase of 120 permanent additional medical intern posts from July 2021 onwards. This represented an increase of 16% on the previous pre pandemic level of medical intern intake and reflects a more sustainable level of internships post COVID-19.
There were 854 medical Intern posts available for the 2022/23 training year. This number is aligned with the number of training posts available at the next stage of medical postgraduate training pathway and medical workforce demand estimates.
