The Medical Council has deployed extra resources to enhance the registration process, according to a briefing document submitted to the Department of Health.
This has included additional internal resources, extra agency staff, targeted overtime, and dedicated data support, according to the Council document dated July 2025. Technical improvements to the registration system were also being introduced.
Within a six-week period, the Council committed to having “an additional 1,000 doctors registered that can then explore employment opportunities in the Irish healthcare system”.
Over a seven-week period, the Council committed to achieving a “significant reduction in the backlog” across four priority pathways.
A Council spokesperson told the Medical Independent it registered an additional 1,846 doctors in the six-week period. A further 452 applications were approved and required finalisation by the doctor before becoming active on the register.
Between 1 July and 5 September, the Council “reduced the actual registration process duration to four weeks for EU/UK general and specialist routes and restoral applications”. It cleared the backlog of restoral applications and new applications in this category are currently processed within two weeks.
The spokesperson added: “The registration team had already delivered notable results earlier in the year. In Q1, 2025, approximately 1,605 applications were received across all routes, with 45 per cent of these through the non-EU certificate of experience route.”
“Despite processing times remaining at similar levels to Q4, 2024, the registration team achieved a 39 per cent increase in the number of doctors registered in Q1, 2025 (979) compared to Q1, 2024 (702). This demonstrated both the pressure of demand and the capacity for improved throughput, providing the basis for a strategic organisational response in mid-2025.”
The spokesperson noted: “Actual durations reflect how long it takes to get registered once a complete application is submitted, bringing us in line with how other regulators report process durations.”
When applicants fail to submit all the required paperwork, this “inevitably” causes delays.
At a governance meeting with the Council in March 2025, the Department acknowledged the significant increase in applications and registrations. However, it noted “the long wait times, which increased in Q4, 2024”.
The Department continued to receive representations on registration delays, “including on EU and UK registrations which should be speedier,” stated the meeting minutes.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.