Sir, – Felim Burke (March 23rd) raises an excellent and sadly oft-ignored point about the plight of graduate-entry medical students in Ireland. As a non-consultant hospital doctor who currently owes over €100,000 to the bank for the funding of my medical education, it is frustrating to read letters claiming that we owe something to the country. I have applied to do a seven-year training scheme in Ireland which I will start in July. Over those seven years, I will be expected to pay approximately half of my net income back to the bank and will still have another three years of payments to make when I complete my training. I can only afford to pay the interest at the moment and will find making the full payment of €1,100 per month next year extremely difficult. Yet I have committed to stay in this country and have no entitlement to any tax relief on this loan that was granted to me for educational purposes.
It is important for people to know that far from being rolling in it, many doctors in training are, like myself, struggling financially to work in a system that might – I suggest – owe us a little assistance in the form of tax relief on our educational loan repayments. This would be an incredibly easy way to boost retention of badly needed non-consultant hospital doctors. – Yours, etc,
ERICA COUGHLAN,
Tramore,
Co Waterford.