Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I understand the Minister is also taking the matter I have raised, which relates to the recruitment of junior doctors.

According to figures for 2011, there are 4,751 junior doctors employed in the Irish health system. Of these, 1,703 are senior house officers, 546 are interns, 1,568 are registrars and 934 are senior registrar specialists. We do not have a problem with senior registrar specialists, who are all on five year contracts. However, there is considerable uncertainty regarding the contracts of senior house officers and registrars.

I did my own study of attitudes of final year medical students in 2012 and concluded that only 34.5% of graduates would be working in Irish hospitals 12 months after graduating from Irish universities. Part of the reason for this is that junior doctors are offered contracts of six months or 12 months. In Australia, New Zealand or the United Kingdom, doctors' contracts can be for two or three years. The contracts may mean working in more than one hospital, but they give security of employment and the prospect of a planned programme of medical education.

How are we going to deal with this issue? When the Government came to power in March 2011, the Minister for Health found there was a huge shortage of junior doctors, and the HSE had to go to India and Pakistan to recruit doctors. All of the people brought in at that time were given two year contracts which will expire in July 2013. We now need a plan to commence on 1 January 2013.