I welcome the Minister of State. When the Medical Practitioners (Amendment) Bill 2002 was brought before the Houses of the Oireachtas in April last year, it was stated in the explanatory memorandum that the legislation was being brought forward as a matter of urgency. More than one year later, it has still not been implemented. I agreed at the time that it was needed as a matter of urgency because all over the country we were depending on non-EU doctors who had come here supposedly for training but were in fact holding the health service together.
About three years ago the Medical Council decided that some posts around the country were, on inspection, not worthy of being called training posts. It did not recommend that non-EU doctors who had only secured temporary registration should take them. In its collective wisdom, the Government brought forward the Bill mentioned to allow the service experience of the doctors concerned to be taken into account in order that they could secure permanent registration after four years satisfactory service. This was quite reasonable in view of the fact that many of the people concerned were highly experienced in their own countries and were simply waiting to take examinations in Ireland. We were relying on them to take up posts which were not being sought by our own graduates and were not considered suitable as training posts. We badly needed to have people in position in order that there would be a service commitment in what were mostly rural hospitals. I am sure the Minister of State noticed there was trouble recently in Wexford hospital because this legislation had not been implemented.
The Medical Council decided that six weeks in these posts could not be considered a sufficient time for training and refused to recognise temporarily registered doctors as taking those posts. It is a practical and serious issue. I do not understand why this legislation has not been implemented. I have had non-EU doctors writing to me who feel they have been shabbily treated and, frankly, I agree.
One of the doctors asked me if it is because officials in the Department of Health and Children think that those who were here years ago and are now working in the UK will return and seek permanent registration here, while they are only entitled to temporary registration. That is not possible. Under the legislation that was brought through, we made sure that doctors who had been out of the country for 12 months could not apply for permanent registration.
All those who have been coming here within the last number of years will be eligible for permanent registration with the changes that have been made. It is difficult to understand why this is going on. I am particularly annoyed because non-EU doctors have been important in the health service for decades. This was some way in which we could straighten things out a little for them, yet it has not been done.
When this Bill was going through the House, the Minister for Health and Children said we could look forward to a completely remodelled Medical Practitioners (Amendment) Act in the autumn. I should have asked which autumn. I look forward to the Minister's reply.