Non-EU graduate doctors are the backbone of the health service yet they suffer inequality, injustice and bullying, according to Dr Syed Jaffrey, of the Irish Medical Organisation. Dr Jaffrey is also a consultant in University Hospital Galway.
He told the conference which launched the report of the Immigrant Council of Ireland that there were 2,000 non-EU graduate doctors in the Irish health system.
They faced a lot of difficulties, including temporary contracts, visa problems and problems with family reunifications. Some of the health agencies had set up bodies to monitor the treatment of non-EU doctors, he said, but there was a need for a Government watchdog.
Within the public health system the issue of male circumcision was an example of the difficulties faced by ethnic minorities. Despite the death of a child in Waterford, and the performance of illegal circumcisions by an unqualified couple in the west, there was no public health provider allowing people to practise this aspect of their culture.
Mr Shahzad Quidwai, of the Islamic Foundation of Ireland, said that since 1995 non-EU citizens were discriminated against over third-level education.
Up to then anybody ordinarily resident in Ireland could apply for an education grant, but since then that was limited to EU nationals and recognised refugees. This meant that people living here for decades but who did not wish to give up their nationality could not apply.