More than 40 per cent of doctors, 50 per cent of nurses in Ireland are foreign-trained

Ireland has one of the highest numbers of nurses per capita in Europe, but a lower-than-average number of doctors in its healthcare workforce, according to a new report.

The OECD ‘Health at a Glance: Europe 2024’ report found that Ireland is one of five countries in Europe that, by 2022, had at least 12 nurses per 1,000 population.

While the number of doctors here was below the European average, Ireland had one of the highest numbers of medical graduates. Along with Romania, Latvia, Malta and Bulgaria, it produces 24 graduates per 100,000 population, with the report noting that this is largely due to ‘the success of medical schools in these countries to attract international students’.

The report added: “While these provide opportunities for students to study medicine in another country, in most cases these international students leave the country after obtaining their first medical degree due to limited postgraduate specialty training opportunities, or better career prospects in their home countries.”

The publication emphasises Ireland’s reliance on international workers in our health service. It noted that, in 2023, 43.3 per cent of doctors in Ireland were foreign-trained, the second highest rate among the 17 European countries included in the study.

“While providing a quick solution to pressing needs, an over-reliance on foreign-trained health workers risks exacerbating workforce shortages and overall fragility in source countries, often lower-income nations already grappling with acute health workforce constraints,” the report said.

Ireland has the highest proportion of foreign-trained nurses, with 51.8 per cent having being trained abroad according to 2023 figures. The OECD publication attributed this to a number of factors, including active recruitment drives in countries like the Philippines and India.

“Concurrently, significant numbers of Irish-trained nurses have emigrated to other English-speaking countries, attracted by better working conditions and pay, thereby exacerbating the domestic nursing shortage, and further driving the health system’s dependence on foreign-trained nurses,” the report added.

While the number of third-level nursing places here has gradually increased in recent years, the OECD found a sharp drop since the pandemic in the number of students choosing a nursing course as their first preference on their CAO form. This figure fell from more than 6,000 in 2020/21 to under 4,000 in 2023/24.

In terms of population health, 75 per cent of adults here consider themselves to be in good or very good health, one of the highest rates recorded among European countries.

Ireland had the second-highest cancer incidence rate in the EU, but such figures include variances in detection and screening methods across countries.

While the report noted that Ireland has a relatively young population compared to countries like Italy and Portugal, it did add that the share of the population aged over 65 here is expected to increase by more than two-thirds by 2050.

Across Europe, the report found:

Life expectancy at birth in the EU reached 81.5 years in 2023, but there are significant disparities between member states, with an eight-year gap between countries with the highest and lowest life expectancies. Spain and Italy recorded life expectancies more than two years above the EU average, while Latvia and Bulgaria were more than five and a half years below it. Circulatory diseases and cancers remained the leading causes of mortality in 2021, accounting for 54 per cent of all deaths, followed by Covid-19 at 11 per cent.
A deterioration in the physical and mental health of adolescents was noted. The proportion of 15-year-olds reporting multiple health complaints – related to both physical issues and psychological distress – rose from 42 per cent in 2017-18 to 52 per cent in 2021-22 on average across EU countries.
In 2022, more than 18 per cent of adults were smokers, and one-in-five reported engaging in binge drinking on a monthly basis. Moreover, over half of adolescents consumed inadequate quantities of fruit and vegetables, while only 15 per cent met the WHO-recommended levels of physical activity.