Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 30 November 2021
568. Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill asked the Minister for Health when the implementation will start of a new assessment that ensures non-EEA doctors are assessed as equals to European Union applicants; the instructions that have issued to the HSE on the matter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [58542/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn September I announced an amendment to the policy regarding the application of EU/EEA community preference and instructed the HSE to update the current guidance relating to the allocation of postgraduate training places for the specialist medical training programmes accredited by the Medical Council. The updated guidance is now in place in the Postgraduate Medical Training Bodies and will be applied going forward to recruitment for postgraduate medical training programmes.
All EU and non-EEA doctors, if they meet the eligibility criteria set out by each postgraduate training body, are eligible to apply to postgraduate medical training programmes. Following a competitive shortlisting and interview process, the postgraduate training bodies will allocate available specialist training places in the first instance to those candidates who, at the time of application, are:
- Citizens of Ireland
- Nationals of another Member State of the European Union (including EEA and Swiss nationals)
- UK nationals
- All persons currently holding a Stamp 4 immigration permission (including holders of a Stamp 4 EUFAM permission and holders of a Withdrawal Agreement Beneficiary card)
Nationals of the United Kingdom are included in the category of persons to whom available specialist training places will be allocated in the first instance. Following the UK leaving the EU, UK nationals continue to be treated on a par (or on a reciprocal or equal basis) with Irish nationals in the context of all general rights and privileges to move freely and take up residence and employment within the Common Travel Area as reaffirmed in the Memorandum of Understanding between the UK and Irish Governments of May 2019.
Ireland is committed under the World Health Organization’s Global Code on the Recruitment of International Health Personnel to strive for self-sufficiency with regard to the training and supply of medical specialists. This policy maintains a measure of self-sufficiency in the training of doctors and the allocation of specialist training positions while at the same time acknowledging the number of Non-EEA doctors working within the Irish health system and providing greater career opportunities for those eligible Non-EEA doctors. The policy regarding the allocation of specialist training places will be kept under review.
