Madam, - Prof Ronan O'Connell (Letters, September 13th) and James Fitzgerald (Health Supplement, same day) both identify the salient issues surrounding the current and forthcoming crises in the health service as a direct result of the shortage of places in medical schools for training Irish and other EU students. This has been capped at around 300 for almost 30 years.
We now have the farcical situation of a health service that is dependent on non-EU consultant hospital doctors, according to Prof O'Connell, coupled with a brain drain as frustrated school-leavers, who despite excellent Leaving Certificate results,are denied the opportunity of becoming doctors in the state that has invested so much money in their education.
The Cabinet will shortly consider the Fottrell report. Would it be too much to expect that its recommendation of more than doubling the number of places for Irish and other EU students be implemented before the would-be doctors of the class of 2006 go through the same charade as this year's candidates?
The system is not working: it is up to the Government to change it - now. Otherwise things can only get worse - a horrifying thought. - Yours, etc,
CAROLINE McGEE, Killiney Road, Killiney, Co Dublin.