Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I send good wishes for Christmas and the new year to the Ceann Comhairle, all of the staff and everyone here. I raise a matter relating to non-EEA doctors who are working in Ireland. Under the current rules, a non-EEA doctor cannot get a stamp 4 residency permit unless he or she has been working here for more than five years. The Tánaiste talked earlier in the week about changing the rules so that a non-EEA doctor can get a stamp 4 permit after two years. That would allow such doctors to get onto specialist training programmes. When will those rules be introduced? What kind of timescale is being considered? It is an extremely important matter. More than 6,000 doctors in the healthcare sector are not in specialist training. Can we bring in these changes on the earliest possible date and will the Minister give us a timeline?

See this speech in context