The Irish Refugee Council has criticised the State's treatment of a Russian paediatrician who has not only been barred from practising here but has also been denied a grant to study medicine again at an Irish university. Lorna Siggins, Western Correspondent, reports.
Ms Zhanna Dzebisova, an Ingushetian from a north Ossetian village near Beslan, has been granted refugee and citizenship status along with her husband, Tauzbek, an Ossetian, who is also a qualified doctor.
The couple and their three children live in Galway, having been forced to leave their homeland four years ago due to the tense political situation with Chechnya.
Although the couple want to work here, they are forced to rely on social welfare as their medical qualifications are not recognised by the Medical Council.
Ms Dzebisova qualified as a paediatrician from the North Ossetian State Medical Institute in 1988 and practised in Russia. Her husband is a general medical doctor.
Ms Dzebisova was unaware that her qualifications would not be recognised here and felt her only option was to return to study to meet the Irish requirements if she was to continue in the medical profession.
"It took me two years to get a place in college and NUI Galway then offered me a place this September," she said. She was informed that if she studied general medicine for three years, she would be allowed to practise.
However, last week she was told that her fees of €6,500 would not be grant-aided by Galway County Council and she would not qualify for a Back to Education allowance because she already held a degree. This is in spite of the fact that the degree is not accepted in Ireland.
"There is no way that I could come up with this money myself and I cannot believe that this decision has been taken," she said.
"I am sure there are other people like me who are highly qualified in this situation and it seems crazy that we are not being accepted when there is a shortage of certain skills."
For its part, the Department of Education said the Galway educational grant-aid authorities had interpreted the situation "correctly", in that grants are not available to students who are holders of a primary degree.
The Irish Refugee Council said this was a classic case of an "idiotic" system which impeded permanent residents of this State from maximising the contribution they could make.
Mr Peter O'Mahony, director of the Irish Refugee Council, said it was ludicrous that "far from encouraging highly qualified people whose skills could be used to the benefit of the communities in which they now live, obstacles are routinely placed in their way".
Ms Dzebisova was a citizen of this State yet she could not use her skills. Asylum-seekers should also be allowed to work if they had spent six months in the asylum system, he said.
Last July the British government announced plans to spend an extra £500,000 (€732,181) to help refugees with healthcare skills to use their expertise in the National Health Service.
