Dental School Places โIncreasinglyโ Filled โby โForeign Students, Leaving Irish Applicants Struggling
DUBLIN, IRELAND – A growing number of Irish students are being denied places in dental schools due to a heavy reliance onโ high-paying foreign students, leading toโค concerns about the future of dentistry in โIreland and escalating wait times forโ patients. The Irish Dental Association (IDA) is calling for โคurgent governmentโ intervention to capโ the number โof non-EEA students admitted to dentalโฃ programs.
Currently, approximately half of all dentalโ student intake at University college Cork (UCC) and Trinity College Dublin (TCD) comes from outside the European Economic Area (EEA). Non-EEA students โคcontribute over โฌ45,000โ annually in tuition fees, a revenue stream the Department โคof Higher Education utilizes to offset โcosts within Irish dental schools โขand the broader university system.
This funding model, while financially beneficial to the universities, is directly impacting opportunities for Irish and โEEA students. A significant majority โof these โinternational graduates subsequently return to their home countriesโค to practice, exacerbating existingโ workforce shortages within โฃIreland.
Recent IDA surveys reveal the extent of the problem: 63% of dentists reported difficulty recruiting a dentist in the past 12 months. This shortage translates to dental practices struggling to meet patient demand, resulting in longer waiting lists and reduced access to care.
“The absurdity of the situationโฆand โคtheโค inactionโ of those who need to effectโ immediate change,” has left dentists increasingly frustrated, according to โคsources familiar with โthe issue.The IDA is urging Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, Peter Burke, and Minister โคfor Higher โEducation, James โLawless, to implementโ a cap on non-EEA student โคadmissions – proposingโฃ a limit of 20% next year, decreasing to 10% over the following three years – to prioritize Irish students and address the looming dental workforce โcrisis.
