Pringle urges minister to consider recruiting doctors from Cuba

By Thomas Pringle
Updated: 2nd September 2022

Independent TD for Donegal, Thomas Pringle, has urged the Minister for Health to consider recruiting doctors from Cuba to ease the shortage of doctors across the country.

In an email to the Minister for Health, Deputy Pringle said: “There is no doubt that there is a shortage of doctors across Ireland in all aspects of the health services and this cannot be addressed in the short term by any additional training within Ireland.”

Deputy Pringle, convenor of the Cuba/Ireland parliamentary friendship group in the Oireachtas, had also raised the issue during Leaders’ Questions in the Dáil earlier this year.

In his email to the minister, Deputy Pringle said: “I have been talking to the Cuban Ambassador about the possibility of medical personnel from Cuba coming to Ireland to assist our health services and they are very open to the suggestion. It is something that has been done already in various European countries, including Italy, Sweden and Portugal, so there should not be any barrier to the achievement of the goal that I can see.”

The deputy also referred to a recent agreement with Cuba for hiring physicians to provide medical assistance in the southern Italian region of Calabria, that would see dozens of physicians from Cuba starting to serve in that health system this month.

In his email to the minister, Deputy Pringle said: “I can see no reason why this would not be possible and it would go a long way to making our health services work for citizens. I would urge you to take a look at this as a possible solution and if there is anything I can do to assist I will be more than happy to help.”