James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Professor Brian MacCraith's report will address the issues with reference to NCHDs in particular. I do not believe the issue of the salary rate in this country is what bothers them, although this will always be part of it. They believe they do not have a clear career path. It can take up to 12 years or more to become a specialist in this country whereas it takes six years in other countries. They feel somewhat devalued and disrespected by the system. All these things must change or these people will continue to leave. They are highly mobile, they are the brightest and best and they are voting with their feet. They leave this country to go to the finest institutions across the world and they rise to the top of those institutions. I had the pleasure of meeting many of them when I visited America for Saint Patrick's Day. They are in the Mayo Clinic, the Cleveland Clinic, Boston hospital, Boston Children's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, for example. We want to keep our people at home, and while we want them to go abroad to widen their experience and their horizons, we also want them to come back to us. If this is to be possible, we need to offer them a career path that is also respectful of them in which they are treated with respect. Sadly, this is not the case at the moment. This report addresses that issue and many other issues. There will always be difficulties and issues associated with the recruitment of both doctors and nurses to particular parts of the country which are regarded as remote or unattractive. However, the hospital groups should help to address this situation.

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