Public Consultation & Proportionality Assessment

Amendment to Registration Rules

*Please note, this public consultation is now closed.

You are invited to take part in our public consultation on changing our Registration Rules. These rules are changing to include the General Medical Council Professional and Linguistic Assessments Board (PLAB) exams as an alternative to the Medical Council’s Pre-Registration Examination System (PRES) exams. The General Medical Council is the regulator of doctors in the UK.

The Medical Council is seeking the views of the public on adding an additional equivalent exam alternative. It is proposed that the current Registration Rules will be amended to include the PLAB, which will formally recognise its equivalence.

The draft Medical Council (Registration)(Amendment) Rules 2026 can be viewed here.

We are also conducting a proportionality assessment on the proposed Registration Rules. As part of this assessment, and in addition to the request for general feedback, we are seeking stakeholder's views in respect of the proportionality of the amendments to the Registration Rules.

How to take part

The public consultation is open from 10th – 22nd June 2026. You can provide your feedback by downloading, completing, saving and emailing the survey form to communications@mcirl.ie with the phrase “Registration Public Consultation” in the subject line’, or email your feedback directly.

*Please note, this public consultation is now closed.