Corridors / Ireland

Ireland and New Zealand

Both directions are workable. An Irish radiologist living in New Zealand and reporting Irish patients is capped mainly by the visitor visa; a New Zealand radiologist living in Ireland is workable up to a year through the visiting academic permission, which processes quicker and lighter than the UK equivalent. Ireland's clear advantage over the UK corridor is data: it moves freely in both directions under EU adequacy.

IE → NZ: up to ~9 months, lowest risk NZ → IE: up to 12 months, visiting academic permission Irish Medical Council confirmation required EU adequacy: data moves freely

Direction A — an Irish radiologist living in New Zealand

The cleaner of the two. The radiologist remains an Irish employee, Irish Medical Council-registered and covered by the Irish indemnity arrangement throughout, reporting Irish patients during the New Zealand day.

Immigration	A New Zealand visitor visa permits this, and Irish citizens enter visa-free. Since 27 January 2025 every visitor visa allows unlimited remote work for an overseas employer. The limit is duration: up to 9 months in any 18-month period single-entry, or 6 months at a time multiple-entry. Longer placements need a different visa class.
Registration	New Zealand registration is not required for a doctor reporting only patients located in another country (MCNZ Statement on Telehealth 2020, clause 18). Irish Medical Council registration and the professional competence scheme continue.
Tax	From 1 April 2026 the non-resident visitor category allows up to 275 days in any 18-month period without New Zealand tax residency. Below that, the 92-day rule and the Ireland–NZ double-taxation agreement apply. An Irish radiologist abroad for less than a full year generally stays Irish tax-resident.
Employer footprint	The visitor's presence is disregarded when testing whether the overseas employer has a New Zealand permanent establishment, so an Irish public body takes on no New Zealand tax footprint by placing a radiologist here.
Indemnity	Cover for an Irish public-hospital radiologist runs through the State's clinical indemnity arrangement, which follows the treatment of Irish public patients. Cover while physically abroad should be confirmed in writing for each person, and separate defence-organisation membership should be notified.
Data	Ireland sits inside the EU's adequacy decision for New Zealand, so data can move between the two without additional safeguards. Remote viewing keeps images on Irish servers, so in practice there may be no transfer to assess.

The one point to plan around is duration: placements up to about nine months fit the visitor visa and stay under the main tax thresholds.

Direction B — a New Zealand radiologist living in Ireland

Workable up to a year. The radiologist remains a Health New Zealand employee, registered with the Medical Council of New Zealand, reporting New Zealand patients during the Irish day.

Immigration	The visiting academic permission allows a person to live and work in Ireland for under a year, paid from outside the State and hosted by an Irish institution, with a self-sufficiency financial test rather than a fixed income floor. It needs a genuine hosting arrangement, with letters from the Irish institution and the home employer, and processes in about four months. Short-stay entry, by contrast, is ninety days and allows no work at all.
Beyond a year	Usually: move to another corridor for the next leg. To stay in Ireland, the cleanest route where it applies is Irish citizenship through an Irish-born grandparent (Foreign Births Register, currently around twelve months to process). The income-based Stamp 0 is discretionary and gated at about €50,000 a year; the Working Holiday Authorisation is age-limited and intended for casual work.
Registration	Unresolved, and decisive. Whether a doctor physically in Ireland who reads only New Zealand patients needs Irish Medical Council registration is untested; there is no telemedicine-specific statute and no Irish case law. Written confirmation from the Irish Medical Council is needed before any placement; if it will not confirm, this direction does not proceed.
Tax and payroll	The employer question is the demanding one. Irish Revenue requires a foreign employer to register for PAYE and PRSI once an employee works in Ireland, from the first workday unless Revenue grants a dispensation, and no dispensation is available for a stay long enough to make the employee Irish-resident. New Zealand has no social-security agreement with Ireland covering contributions, so PRSI can fall on both employer and employee. Treaty relief may cover the income tax, but the payroll mechanics should be agreed with Revenue before a placement starts.
Indemnity	New Zealand patients are covered by the no-fault ACC scheme wherever the doctor sits, and the radiologist's New Zealand indemnity covers care given to New Zealand patients. Irish-side civil exposure is limited but should be checked.
Data	The reverse flow is covered by the same EU adequacy decision. Remote viewing into the New Zealand reporting system keeps the data in New Zealand.

What this means for a pilot

Start with Direction A and keep early placements short. An Irish radiologist on a New Zealand visitor visa, reading only Irish patients, on a placement under nine months, is the lowest-risk version and needs no untested ruling to proceed.

For Direction B, the visiting academic permission is the natural vehicle for a placement of up to a year: confirm the Irish host department will host the Fellow as a visiting academic, obtain the Irish Medical Council confirmation in writing, and take Irish tax advice on PAYE and PRSI. Only with the route, the registration confirmation and the payroll position settled is a Direction B placement worth setting up.

What would change the picture

A Direction A placement that needs to run beyond about nine months: the visitor route stops working, and a longer New Zealand visa class and tax advice are needed.
An Irish Medical Council confirmation, either way, on the host-presence question: a clear yes opens Direction B, a no closes it.
A Revenue-agreed PAYE position for the employer: this is what makes Direction B administratively workable.
A Direction B placement beyond twelve months: the Fellow moves corridors, or uses citizenship by descent or the income-based Stamp 0.