A recruitment drive by an official delegation to India and Pakistan will result in between 50 and 60 anaesthetists beginning work in the State's hospitals next year.
Representatives from the health boards, the Association of Anaesthetists, the Medical Council and the Department of Health were part of a delegation which interviewed over 300 non-consultant hospital doctors for the vacant posts. The delegation visited Bombay, Madras, Karachi and Lahore.
The new recruits were interviewed for vacancies in all health board areas. A week after the delegation's return, over half of the successful candidates have already accepted job offers to work here from the start of next year.
The presence of representatives from the Medical Council on the trip means the doctors are unlikely to have problems satisfying registration requirements here. However, their applications must still be approved by the registration committee of the Medical Council. They will also have to satisfy the usual Department of Justice visa requirements.
It is likely the applications will be expedited to ensure the doctors will have no difficulty starting work. They will be filling recognised training posts in hospitals here and are likely to return to Pakistan and India as fully qualified consultant anaesthetists.
The doctors will be offered the same pay and conditions as other recruits. They will also be given an interest-free loan to cover air fares.
In a related development, Cork University Hospital has signed a contract with Locomotion, a UCD campus company, through which Australian doctors will be appointed as locum non-consultant staff from next January in the hospital's accident and emergency department. They will come to the Republic as part of an overall educational and employment package.
The latest recruitment of foreign junior doctors follows a manpower crisis in July, when anaesthetist and accident and emergency posts were left vacant.