Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Yes, many years ago, and we rekindled that when he began to work in the House. I wish him well in his retirement.

I am sure the Minister will agree that migrant doctors, nurses and consultants play a vital role in our hospitals and GP clinics and are keeping our healthcare system from collapsing completely.

It is essential that we are doing everything we can to retain all healthcare workers, especially given the crisis in healthcare we have been experiencing for a number of years. Despite this, it has come to my attention that there are multiple cases of doctors and consultants who have been unsuccessful in securing visas for their or children, with many then forced to take the decision to leave Ireland. Not only is it incredibly unfair and cruel to force this decision on people who make an immense contribution to our society, it leaves vital consultant roles vacant in hospitals such as Letterkenny and Limerick at an extremely critical time. Why has the Government made it difficult for families of consultants to obtain visas? Does the Minister think this is reasonable given the healthcare crisis we are currently experiencing?

See this speech in context