Irish junior doctors prefer to go abroad for at least part of their training. In Ireland, many have a preference for working in Dublin, Cork or Galway which increases staffing difficulties for hospitals outside these centres.
An examination introduced by the Medical Council in 1998 has made it more difficult for doctors from traditional sources such as India and Pakistan to come here.
A relative lack of consultant posts has narrowed career opportunities for doctors here and has made Irish hospitals less attractive.
In June the Medical Council adopted measures to speed up the registration of doctors moving from Britain to the Republic for training. It added two years to the period doctors from outside the EU can spend here in training. The move was meant to avert feared shortages of doctors from the end of June when junior doctors' six-month contracts ended. So far it has had relatively little effect.
Meanwhile, the work of the Medical Manpower Forum, which is expected to come up with possible solutions, was delayed by the junior doctors' dispute.