Project Home: Encouraging healthcare workers to return to Ireland

A targeted strategy to attract Irish health graduates back from Australia is to be extended to other countries. David Lynch reports

Australia has long been an attractive destination for Irish graduate doctors and other healthcare workers (HCWs). How to stem – or even reverse – this persistent flow has become a central challenge for workforce planners amid what many describe as the ‘recruitment and retention crisis’ in the Irish health service.

An initiative aimed at tackling the issue was discussed at the Sláintecare programme board in November 2025.

According to minutes, during a discussion on strategic workforce planning, members were told that moves to expand the “available candidate pool” of HCWs were being undertaken. These included targeted attraction and engagement strategies of Irish graduates who have travelled overseas.

This work would take place in conjunction with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and “social and sporting networks abroad, to support the return of these healthcare workers to opportunities in Ireland”.

It was noted that the initiative was due to commence by the end of the year.

Project Home

‘Project Home’ was subsequently launched in December, initially in Australia, a HSE spokesperson told the Medical Independent (MI). It is described as a targeted strategy to encourage Irish-trained healthcare professionals working abroad to return to work in Ireland.

“This is an engagement initiative with our healthcare diaspora, promoting careers in the HSE but also speaking to the cultural and emotional attractions of moving home,” the spokesperson said.

Project Home was launched against the backdrop of recent research by HSE National Doctors Training and Planning (NDTP) (see data below) which demonstrated “significant interest” from Irish HCWs abroad in returning home.

Data

Last month, the Medical Director of NDTP told MI he was “very optimistic” about the retention of doctors. Prof Anthony O’Regan was speaking at the NDTP medical workforce conference in Dublin. He noted the figures showed that 80 per cent of doctors who completed their training in Ireland remain working in the country long-term. Retention was even higher among Irish-trained GPs with more than 90 per cent continuing to work in general practice in Ireland.

Prof O’Regan noted that the percentages are significantly higher than they would have been in the recent past.

Campaign

Project Home is a “medium-term initiative” aiming to build a “trusted communications channel” with the healthcare diaspora, such as doctors, nurses and midwives, and other health and social care professionals.

The HSE spokesperson said it is “not a recruitment drive”. Rather it is intended to provide practical and useful information and supports to help HCWs when they are considering returning to Ireland.

The first phase of the initiative is currently underway in Australia. This involves a digital marketing campaign, primarily using Facebook and Instagram. Irish HCWs can opt-in to receive a bi-monthly newsletter from the HSE. To date, two newsletters have been issued to those who have registered, with the third planned for July. There are currently over 400 healthcare professionals registered “with numbers continuing to grow.”

There is also an expanding offline aspect to the campaign, which will take place during sporting and cultural events. The HSE has engaged with the GAA in Australia and hosted a stand at a large GAA event in Melbourne in February. New pull-up banners (see image below) have been deployed for some other in-person events. There are also plans to advertise the initiative at the upcoming Ireland–Australia rugby match in Sydney in July.

The HSE has been in contact with the Irish diplomatic service in Australia in relation to the campaign, while the Executive’s online career hub now includes a section for those returning from abroad. The initiative is managed by the HSE National Human Resources’ recruitment, reform, and resourcing team, with the assistance of an external provider, stated the spokesperson.

The spokesperson added that the HSE is seeking feedback from healthcare workers who have returned to Ireland, as well as those still based in Australia, to ensure the information and supports are tailored to their needs.

The HSE assesses progress on an ongoing basis but a formal assessment is due at the end of the first year.

Active

“It’s really good that the HSE are beginning to actively encourage the return of Irish-trained doctors from abroad,” said Dr Niamh Humphries (PhD), Senior Lecturer and Head of Research at the RCSI Graduate School of Healthcare Management.

“I think the challenge in the past has been that the health system has operated on the assumption that Ireland’s emigrant doctors will return and has not actively reached out to emigrant doctors to find out either why they left or what might encourage their return,” she told MI.

From 2017–2024, Dr Humphries led a research initiative called the hospital doctor retention and motivation project (HDRM). The HDRM, which was funded by the Health Research Board, focused on the working lives of Ireland’s hospital doctors and doctor emigration and retention. It involved qualitative and quantitative data collection in Ireland and Australia.

Dr Humphries said it was important that Project Home focused on being as useful as possible for doctors seeking to return.

“For those who have already decided to return, the campaign should be combined with a package of supports to facilitate their return by helping them with practical things,” according to Dr Humphries.

Such supports could include help with finding jobs or training places, assistance in having qualifications recognised in Ireland, or aid with finding childcare/school places, if required. 

“Returning emigrants often face challenges when returning to work in Ireland and these should be acknowledged by the HSE and some solutions offered,” according to Dr Humphries.

She said the diaspora of Irish-trained doctors is “potentially an incredible resource for the Irish health system”.

“They have trained in Ireland and are interested in contributing and improving the Irish health system.”

She described the HSE’s decision to connect with these doctors and other healthcare professionals as “a wise one”. 

“But it must be more than just a social media campaign,” Dr Humphries added.

“It must also provide practical supports and a reassurance to Irish-trained doctors that they are not being asked to return into the same working conditions that drove their emigration in the first place.”

Expansion

Currently, Project Home is focused on Australia. However, the HSE spokesperson said there are plans to use this experience to inform outreach in other jurisdictions. “We are currently planning to reach out to key groups in the UK on a phased basis over the coming months.”

An IHCA spokesperson said it welcomed initiatives that seek to reconnect with Irish-trained doctors working abroad and encourage them to consider returning to Ireland.

“Many Irish doctors maintain strong professional and personal ties to home and targeted outreach can play a useful role in highlighting opportunities within the Irish health system,” the spokesperson told MI.

The spokesperson added that recent HSE workforce data shows that 60 per cent of the 2024 interns were not working in the health service in 2025. However, 77 per cent of interns from the 2016–2020 cohorts had returned to undertake further training in Ireland by 2025. “But they appear to be taking longer to commence further training in Ireland, which may be a worrying trend.”

Similarly, 80 per cent of doctors who completed specialist training between 2017 and 2021 were working in Ireland in either public or private practice by 2025. “But this means 20 per cent were not,” said the spokesperson.

“Therefore, recruitment campaigns alone will not solve the underlying workforce challenges that cause doctors to decide to go abroad to work and potentially defer their return.”

Capacity deficit

The Association spokesperson noted that Ireland continues to face “chronic capacity deficits”, crowded hospitals, constrained diagnostic access, and the absence of a universal electronic health record.

They noted these shortcomings undermine clinical effectiveness and patient safety, limit consultants’ ability to deliver timely care, and contribute to burnout and poor wellbeing among doctors. “While attracting Irish-trained doctors home is important, retention must remain an equal priority,” the spokesperson said.

“Creating a healthcare system where consultants can build long-term careers, deliver high-quality patient care and work within well-resourced clinical environments will be critical to both retaining existing staff and encouraging more doctors to return from abroad.”

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It’s really good that the HSE are beginning to actively encourage the return of Irish-trained doctors from abroad

The cost of relocation

The HSE international and returning emigrants recruitment relocation package has recently been updated, the Medical Independent can reveal.

The package is available to candidates who are taking up a post with the HSE (either permanent or temporary for a minimum of two years) and are relocating from outside Ireland. This includes Irish citizens abroad, UK citizens, EU citizens, and candidates from non-EU countries.

It provides supports such as: Accommodation costs up to €3,910; flight allowances (the amount of which varies depending on country of origin); and certain initial costs such as visa fees, registration fees, and aptitude tests.

The package was last reviewed in February 2026. It is examined periodically to ensure continued competitiveness, according to a HSE spokesperson.

An internal HSE circular (HR Circular 004/2026) from February, written by Chief People Officer Ms Anne Marie Hoey, noted that the package had been updated to include reimbursement towards ferry travel expenses and to provide further clarification on which grades are eligible.

“While there has been significant investment in improving capacity and the infrastructure supporting recruitment in the HSE, the national talent pool is limited and although every effort is being made to maximise this pool through links with colleges and universities, there remains a significant deficit nationally in the availability of clinical professionals,” according to Ms Hoey.

“In the medium to longer term, to supplement the national pool, the HSE will need to attract and source candidates from the international market, including Irish citizens who travelled abroad and wish to return home.

“The HSE recognises that an enhanced relocation offer across all disciplines may help position the HSE as an attractive employer across international candidate pools in a globally competitive market.”

The relocation package is provided on the basis that the recipient will work for the HSE for a minimum of two years. If they choose to leave voluntarily before this period ends, repayment of some or all relocation support may be required.

Overall, the HSE spokesperson described the package as “attractive”. They added that the HSE does not hold data centrally on the number of people who have accessed the scheme.

Full details for applying for the package can be found here: https://careerhub.hse.ie/hse-relocation-package/

New data displays desire of doctors to work in Ireland

Recent surveys show that 90 per cent of doctors working in Ireland wish to remain working here long-term, according to the HSE.

The spokesperson said it is common across all advanced healthcare systems for doctors to travel abroad for experience and subspecialty training. “Irish doctors have always travelled to gain experience overseas, just as Irish healthcare relies on high-quality, internationally trained doctors.” 

The HSE National Doctors Training and Planning Medical Recruitment and Retention Report 2025, published last month, shows that while many young doctors choose to work in Australia for one to two years, the vast majority return to train and work in Ireland, added the spokesperson. 

The report findings showed that 60 per cent of interns leave Ireland to work in Australia at the end of the intern year, but more than three quarters of those (77 per cent) return to specialty training in Ireland. This number increases to 87 per cent when looking specifically at Irish-trained doctors of Irish nationality.

Furthermore, 80 per cent of doctors completing specialist training in Ireland between 2017 and 2021 were working in Ireland as consultants by 2025. For general practice, retention within the Irish healthcare system is over 90 per cent.