*** Doctors Protest Today Press Notification ***
A group of foreign-qualified doctors will be protesting outside the Dáil on Kildare Street from 11am today seeking the immediate resumption of the Pres Level 3 exams.
The exams were cancelled at the start of the pandemic, and despite major staffing issues around the country, these doctors were not permitted to work during the pandemic due to the suspension of the Pres Level 3 exams.
Speaking on the topic, Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín TD, said:
"We in Aontú have worked closely with this group of doctors, numbering roughly 70, for the past number of months and have made representations to the Minister for Health on the issue. One Doctor living in Co Galway - Dr Apoorva Gopinath - has spoken to us about her ordeal - by Indian standards she is a perfectly qualified doctor but has been unable to sit the Pres 3 exams in order for her qualifications to be recognised in Ireland. She applied to work through the Be on Call for Ireland recruitment drive, but was told that she couldn't even work as a clinical contact tracer due to the fact that she hasn't been able to sit the Pres 3 exams".
Deputy Tóibín continued: "In the town in which Dr Apoorva lives there was a tragic Covid-19 outbreak in a local nursing home where a huge number of patients tested positive and many of them died. At the time the nursing home took to Facebook, in the teeth of a staffing crisis, begging people to come in and help them. It is ridiculous to thing that Dr Apoorva was living down the road from this nursing home but the HSE would not permit her to work due to their red tape. This week the IMO issued a press release regarding the crisis in terms of a shortage of doctors in the State".
"We have nearly a million people on waiting lists for hospital appointments, and we have a group of 70 doctors who are being refused entry into the health service because they haven't sat an exam - an exam which has been cancelled for the guts of twenty months. Aontú is calling for the immediate restarting of the Pres 3 exams", concluded Tóibín.
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085 223 96 20
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For Written Answer on : 09/09/2021
Question Number(s): 1034 Question Reference(s): 41624/21
Department: Health
Asked by: Peadar Tóibín T.D.
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QUESTION
To ask the Minister for Health when pre level 3 medical exams will recommence.
REPLY
The PRES 3 exams are hosted on behalf of the Medical Council by the medical schools. Due to the pandemic, the PRES 3 exams scheduled to take place in March 2020 were postponed and it has not been possible to reschedule the exams since. The Medical Council has had discussions with the medical schools to explore the possibility of running the PRES 3 exams but due to the pandemic and resulting public health restrictions, the medical schools did not feel they could safely host the exams for the Council. The Council is in contact with the Medical Schools and the matter is being followed up as a matter of urgency so as to be able to offer the PRES at the earliest opportunity.
