There has been a sharp fall in the number of foreign doctors applying to the Medical Council to work in Ireland since the introduction of a new examination last year. In 1996 there were more than 1,500 applications for temporary registration from non-EU doctors, but this has been reduced to "double figures" this year, according to Mr Brian Lea, registrar of the Medical Council.
Doctors wishing to work in the State must now sit a paper examining their proficiency in English as well as a clinical examination.
Because of fewer applications there would be fewer junior doctors in hospitals, however, the president of the Medical Council, Prof Gerry Bury, said the council was not responsible for the number of junior doctors employed in the State. He said it had a responsibility to protect the public interest by ensuring that all registered doctors met certain criteria.
"The council's clear view of ensuring those criteria are met was to put in place an assessment scheme. The Medical Council is responsible for standards and registration of doctors but since then we have had a sharp fall in the number of applicants."
It was revealed that there has been no contact from the hospitals or health boards regarding these developments.
Prof Bury, who was speaking after a meeting of the Medical Council, said that every country in the Western world had its own assessment for the registration of foreign doctors. He said the council wanted to meet the Minister for Health, Mr Cowen, to seek immediate changes to the Medical Practitioners Act. The Act had been introduced in 1978 and since then "medicine, society and the law had progressed considerably".