European Elections: Ireland’s exodus of young doctors
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00:00Kate is a young doctor working in the town of Tullamore.
00:04She's just one of hundreds in the profession that will emigrate from Ireland to Australia this year.
00:09According to Kate, the working conditions in her home country are much worse than down under.
00:14It's longer working hours. I wouldn't say the pay is necessarily bad,
00:19it's just in Australia you'll get the same pay for doing less work.
00:23All of my friends are going, so I'd have maybe 15, 20 close friends going.
00:29For my graduating class there's maybe 40 or 50, maybe more going.
00:33The number of young medics emigrating to Australia from Ireland is on the rise.
00:38According to one survey, 73% of medical graduates were considering emigrating when they qualified.
00:44So this year 535 Irish doctors emigrated to Australia or got visas to work in Australia.
00:50That's quite a significant number relative to the number that Ireland trains.
00:54Ireland trains about 750 doctors each year.
00:56The shortage of doctors has meant that three quarters of GP practices in Ireland have closed their lists to new patients.
01:03The cost of living is another driving factor behind the mass exodus.
01:07Prices of goods and services in Ireland are 46% above the EU average
01:11and it's not just medical professionals who are quitting Irish shores.
01:15Teachers are also leaving in their droves with 3,000 posts currently vacant.
01:20There is estimated to be around 27,000 Irish people currently in Australia
01:25with over 20,000 of that number under the age of 30.