{"id":619503,"date":"2026-09-09T17:18:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T17:18:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/619503\/"},"modified":"2026-09-09T17:18:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T17:18:09","slug":"doctors-warn-new-citizenship-rules-will-make-ireland-less-viable-for-healthcare-workers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/619503\/","title":{"rendered":"Doctors warn new citizenship rules will make Ireland ‘less viable’ for healthcare workers"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than 300 international doctors working in Ireland have warned proposed new citizenship rules<\/a> will make Ireland “a less viable country” for international healthcare workers<\/p>\n

Among the changes are one which will see the time a person must live in Ireland to be eligible for citizenship extend from five years to eight years.<\/p>\n

The Irish Association of International Doctors (IAID) said in an open letter to the Government the changes would make Ireland less attractive for medical workers.<\/p>\n

They warned the extension to eight years, combined with delays already in the citizenship system, meant health workers could face \u201cuncertainty for almost a decade\u201d in future.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Government cannot reasonably expect international healthcare professionals to dedicate almost a decade of their lives to Ireland before receiving the security that should accompany their sustained contribution,\u201d the letter said.<\/p>\n

The IAID say this also affected nurses and other healthcare workers.<\/p>\n

The HSE is heavily dependent on healthcare staff from abroad.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Workforce surveys regularly show an increase in numbers across all types of health work.<\/p>\n

In the letter, doctors say staff and their families already face long delays around visas applications.<\/p>\n

Justice minister Jim O\u2019Callaghan has said the new plans, which are expected to be signed into law by Christmas, bring Ireland into line with other EU countries.<\/p>\n

However, the IAID said in that case the Irish system should also offer comparable processing times.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Delays to family reunification are regularly raised by doctors and other staff, in just one example.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIreland should focus on improving its existing processes, instead of prolonging the insecurity experienced by lawful workers and their families,\u201d the IAID said.<\/p>\n

France and New Zealand require five years of residence before applying for citizenship, as does Germany after recent changes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In Canada, the requirement is three years, Australia four years and the UK six years.<\/p>\n

The IAID predicted further delays would make Ireland “a less viable country” for international healthcare workers.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

It called on the Government to take this into account.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not merely an immigration matter. It is a healthcare workforce and patient-safety issue,\u201d the doctors said.<\/p>\n

It also raised questions about a proposed language test, pointing out doctors must already meet the Irish Medical Council\u2019s language requirements.<\/p>\n

The letter was signed by IAID president Dr Liqa ur Rehman.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It is undersigned by doctors including those working in Limerick, Cork, Waterford, Ennis, and hospitals around the country. More names continued to be added during the day.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In addition, the IAID wrote to Mr O\u2019 Callaghan and other politicians on Monday about the issue.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It called on him to \u201cprotect Ireland\u2019s doctors and skilled workforce in citizenship reform\u201d.<\/p>\n

The letter, also seen by the Irish Examiner, highlighted concerns about competition with other countries in detail.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It also noted just four years ago the Government streamlined the paperwork for international doctors working here.<\/p>\n

The numbers showed, it said, how roughly two in five doctors and nearly four in five non-training non-consultant hospital doctors (NCHDs) qualified abroad.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Even a modest deterioration in retention can have material service consequences,\u201d the IAID told the minister.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than 300 international doctors working in Ireland have warned proposed new citizenship rules will make Ireland “a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":619504,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[103,397,4892,396,61,1629,60],"class_list":["post-619503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-health-news","tag-healthcare","tag-ie","tag-immigration","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=619503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619503\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/619504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=619503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=619503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=619503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}