Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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Question 192: To ask the Minister for Health the reason that in this current economic crisis we are now going to recruit doctors from overseas when we have doctors graduating from our own medical colleges here. [16774/11]

Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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Question 193: To ask the Minister for Health his views on the suggestion that doctors graduating from medical college and paid for by the taxpayer be contracted to serve at least two years in a public hospital and that it to be considered part of their training. [16775/11]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 192 and 193 together.

The career path of a non-consultant hospital doctor (NCHD) following graduation is normally: Intern - 1 year, Senior House Officer - 2 or 3 years, Registrar - 1 year +, Senior/Specialist Registrar - up to 7 years.

Typically doctors who graduate from Irish medical colleges undertake a one year internship in the public hospital system. Following their internship they can apply for Senior House Officer posts. Alternatively they can choose to leave the system at this point, or at a later stage. The HSE has advised that there is currently no shortage of interns in the public hospital system. However, it is recruiting doctors from overseas because there is an immediate shortage at Senior House Officer and Registrar level. 450 posts are due to be filled from 11th July when the next rotation of NCHDs takes place and the HSE is having difficulty filling some of these. Most of these posts are service rather than training posts and it appears that the posts are not attractive to newly qualified Irish doctors.

The question of contracting doctors who are trained in Ireland to serve at least two years working in our public health system is among the options which is currently being examined on the context of healthcare workforce planning.