Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his replies. I have raised this issue before with his good self and also with his predecessor because it has been on the cards for a long time. In the context of the present negotiations or previous discussions on the issue, has it been possible to determine whether any structure or arrangement can be entered into which would encourage graduates to take up their internship in Irish hospitals as opposed to going overseas? What is the extent, if any, to which other jurisdictions face and address these problems? Other English-speaking jurisdictions must have a similar problem. Having regard to what the Minister has just said, can he indicate whether non-English-speaking jurisdictions have a similar difficulty in observing the working time directive and keeping their graduates at home, given the Minister's statement that there would appear to be an attraction for doctors in serving their time in that capacity in their own country in the first instance?

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