PRESIDENT MARY MCALEESE has signed new legislation aimed at tackling the impending shortage of junior doctors, ahead of what is expected to be an emergency shortage of staff from next Monday.

The Medical Practitioners (Amendment) Act officially became law late last night, after the Seanad followed the Dáil in passing the entire legislation through within one day.

The Seanad then asked for the law to be signed into law as soon as possible, passing a motion allowing the usual five-day waiting period to be bypassed – so that the Act could be put in place before Monday, when junior doctors will undergo their next ‘rotation’.

The law creates a new category in the register of medical practitioners, where applicants can pass a new assessment set down by the Medical Council, which will then assigned the doctors to suitable posts.

A note accompanying the bill said that non-EU doctors were reluctant to sit the current PRES exam for healthcare positions, which has a high failure rate and which is considered more geared towards recent graduates.

Hundreds of doctors from India and Pakistan have begun arriving in Ireland in recent days ahead of Monday’s changeover, which will expose major staff shortages in the health services as a result of a reduction in the number of new medical graduates.

The legislation was only distributed to TDs and Senators on Wednesday morning, prompting complaints from opposition TDs that they had not been given enough time to digest its ramifications or offer amendments.