Professional Indemnity Requirements

• You are based solely overseas and do not intend to practise medicine in Ireland during the period of registration
  • Note: should your circumstances change, and you return to Ireland to practise medicine, you should advise the Medical Council by email and provide evidence you have the appropriate indemnity in place where appropriate.
• You are engaged in the practise of medicine in a HSE hospital and/or health care facility (including on a locum basis), or other publicly affiliated facility in Ireland covered under the State Indemnity Scheme.
  • Note: This includes doctors currently registered on the Trainee Specialist Division, practicing within an approved training post.
• You are engaged, in whole or in part (including on a locum basis), in the practise of medicine in a non-consultant position, in a hospital and/or healthcare facility that is listed by the NTMA in List 2.
  • Note: Doctors practising at NCHD level in a private hospital are required to have their own professional indemnity cover. A transitional phase is in process for employing hospitals / clinics to fully align with this requirement. NCHDs are not required to provide a certificate of professional indemnity as part of the Annual Retention Application Form 2026. 
• You are not engaged in the practice of medicine during the period of registration, or your practise of medicine does not involve engagement with patients.
  • Note that ticking this box excludes you from the entitlement to issue prescriptions.
  • Doctors on leave at the time of renewal may select option 7 and update the Medical Council in advance of returning to work.

If your practice arrangements change after you renew your registration, please update the Medical Council by email to support@mcirl.ie and provide a copy of your Professional Indemnity Certificate.

• You are engaged in whole or in part (including on a locum basis), in the practice of medicine as a consultant in a hospital and/or healthcare facility that is listed by the NTMA in List 2 under class 1 limits.
  • Note: this practice includes routine, non-invasive treatment, such as, for example, the injection of patients, in an off-site private room.
• You are engaged in whole or in part (including on a locum basis), in the practice of medicine at a facility that is not affiliated with the HSE or listed by the NTMA in List 2 under class 2 limits
• You are engaged in whole or in part (including on a locum basis), in the practice of medicine in a general practice setting in Ireland, listed by the NTMA in List 2 under class 2 limits.
  • This does not include doctors currently registered on the Trainee Specialist Division, practising within an approved training post.

If your practice arrangements change after you renew your registration, please update the Medical Council by email to support@mcirl.ie and provide a copy of your Professional Indemnity Certificate.

As part of your Annual Retention Application Form you will be asked to provide the name and policy number of your professional indemnity provider. Please note that we may share your personal data (your name and indemnity details as submitted by you as part of your renewal process) with the relevant indemnity provider you have identified. This is for the purpose of verifying the details you have submitted.

Any personal data provided by you on the Annual Retention Application Form will be processed by the Medical Council in accordance with its obligations under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 (the 2018 Act) and any regulations made under the 2018 Act.

Further information about how the Medical Council processes personal data is set out in the Medical Council Privacy Policy.

Professional indemnity is a mandatory requirement and will protect the practitioner against claims arising in respect of medical malpractice, negligence and other civil claims that arise from a breach of duty associated with your practice as a doctor.

All doctors practising medicine in Ireland must have indemnity cover appropriate to the nature of their employment/practice arrangement and their area of practice.

If you are currently practicing privately in Ireland, you will be required to provide a copy of your professional indemnity certificate. You will need to ensure you have cover to the minimum levels set out at the following link. 

Professional indemnity for the purposes of the Act is concerned with insurance cover for potential negligence actions only. You should bear in mind that the Clinical Indemnity Scheme does not cover complaints made to the Medical Council under Parts 7, 8 or 9 of the Medical Practitioners Act 2007 and you should consider taking out a policy of indemnity to cover complaints before the Medical Council.

If you have retired or intend to retire from full-time practice, you can remain active on the register and continue to practice once you have the appropriate level of indemnity in place. The minimum level of indemnity required for doctors in private practice is set out in the NTMA List. Please note the relevant level of indemnity applies to all doctors in private practice, including doctors who are issuing prescriptions only. 

Your Annual Retention Application Form (ARAF) must reflect your practice arrangements as of the date you submit your ARAF. It should not include previous or future practice arrangements. Therefore, if you are overseas on the date of submission, your Professional Indemnity declaration should correspond to your current overseas practice arrangement (Declaration 1).

When you come to Ireland and you start practiscing privately (Declaration 3, 5 or 6), you should update the Medical Council with a copy of your professional indemnity certificate, where applicable, by emailing support@mcirl.ie.

While you are actively engaged in an approved post on the Trainee Specialist Division and you are practicing within an approved post, declaration 2 is for doctors practicing within an approved post.

Further information on Trainee Specialist Division can be found on our website here.

Doctors who are on the IMG Rural GP Programme must have Professional Indemnity in place for private practice arrangements in a General Practice setting.

If you are unsure whether you are covered for your practice arrangements, it is advised to speak directly with your indemnity provider to confirm your practice arrangements and provide the indemnity cover for your practice arrangements. If your indemnity provider requires further information in relation to the minimum levels set out by the NTMA they can contact the NTMA directly via the following link.

NTMA Indemnity levels can be found here.

Doctors practising privately in Ireland are required to provide a copy of their professional indemnity certificate. Doctors must ensure that they have cover to the minimum levels set out by the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) via the following link.

The Professional Indemnity Certificate must show the doctor as individually indemnified, not a company name and no other doctor should be listed under the policy. The NTMA have advised company polices do not provide sufficient evidence that the individual doctor has the required indemnity in place.

Doctors are advised to discuss this with their indemnity provider. If the indemnity provider requires further clarification, they should contact the NTMA State Claims Agency directly - via this link.

The below information must be stated on your professional indemnity certificate:

• The name of the policyholder or person indemnified. Please note that you must be individually named on your professional indemnity certificate.
• The period of cover of the insurance policy or indemnity. Please note that your professional indemnity policy must be in date at the time you submit your Annual Retention Form.
• The area(s) of practice covered by the policy or indemnity. if you are registered with a specialty interest but not working in that area, the policy must cover your current area of practice.
• The level of indemnity provided. The level of indemnity provided under your policy should meet the minimum limit required for your practice area, as set out by the NTMA. 
• Note: All copies must be clear and readable.

Your professional indemnity certificate can be uploaded under Question 2 of the Annual Retention Application Form, or through the “Outstanding Tasks” section on your Doctor’s Portal account. 

Your professional indemnity certificate must be provided within 14 days of renewing your registration. If you experience any difficulties uploading your professional indemnity certificate, please email support@mcirl.ie for assistance. If you fail to provide proof of professional indemnity, you will be removed from the register.