David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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331. To ask the Minister for Health the number of medical graduates who emigrated in each of the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47227/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The Medical Council is the custodian of the Irish Medical Register. When a doctor decides to come off the Irish Medical Register they apply for a voluntary withdrawal from the register, which is manually processed by the Executive of the Medical Council and is recorded daily.

Not all doctors who voluntarily withdraw from the register emigrate. Some leave the register for multiple reasons such as retirement, family reasons or change of career/role. The figures for total voluntary withdrawals are mapped in Figure 1 of Appendix 1, attached.

Following voluntary withdrawal from the register, medical practitioners are routinely emailed a brief questionnaire to explore the reasons for leaving the register. In response to this, a breakdown of doctors who responded to this survey with an Irish basic medical qualification is described in Table 1. Appendix 1.2021 figures are correct as of 28/09/21. Response rates to this survey range from 75%-98%.

The Medical Council conducts a number of research projects each year which are published by the Council, examining all aspects of the register with an in-depth review of voluntary withdrawal data.

_ pq331-30-09-21_en.docx ">Medical Register