Cathal Berry (Kildare South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I want to double up on Deputy Clarke's comments by fully accepting the Minister's bona fides with regard to the figures. He mentioned that there are two pathways into the Medical Corps, direct entry and the military medicine training scheme. There is a third lesser known pathway. It is the one through which I joined the Medical Corps and one of the current medical officers is in a similar situation. He is a GP who came back from Syria where he had been for the past six months. He joined the Artillery Corps 20 years ago and took a career break. He funded himself through medical school, did his internship and GP training and then rejoined the Defence Forces. Perhaps at the meeting this evening, the Minister could discuss whether we could further explore and expand this third pathway. We know the Defence Forces send officers to college to study engineering, electronics, languages and commerce. Medicine is not included in the list of eligible courses, however. Will the Minister consider including medicine on the list of university courses in order that we can make maximum use of the homegrown talent that already resides in the Defence Forces?

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