Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising what seems to me to be a reasonable question. I am answering on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Health, Deputy James Reilly, although I do not have any expertise in the matter. However, I will read the Minister's statement on the record of the House for the information of Senator Burke.

At present there is no system of statutory registration for dietitians in Ireland. The health and social care professionals' council, CORU, which was established in March 2007, provides for statutory registration of 12 separate health and social care professions, including dietetics. The Dietitians' Registration Board has been established and is expected to open its register by the end of this year.

One aspect of statutory registration is the possession of an approved qualification. In the absence of statutory registration, persons are free to work in the private health sector in Ireland without having their qualifications recognised. However, persons wishing to work in the publicly funded health sector in Ireland who have obtained their qualifications outside the Twenty-six Counties must apply to have their professional qualifications recognised under Directive 2005/36/EC. This directive applies to all EEA nationals wishing to practise a regulated profession in an EEA member state other than that in which they obtained their professional qualifications. Its intention is to make it easier for certain professionals, including health professionals, to practise their professions in European countries other than their own, but due safeguards are provided in the assessment of qualifications for public health and safety and consumer protection. The professional qualifications directive applies to a range of professionals, not only health professionals, and the Department of Education and Skills has overall responsibility for qualification recognition policy in Ireland.

Dietetics is a regulated profession for the purposes of the professional qualifications directive. Where statutory registration does not exist for a profession in Ireland, non-Irish qualifications are assessed for their equivalence to the Irish entry-level qualifications required to work in the public health sector. The directive provides for mutual recognition of qualifications for certain professions. In the case of the health and social care professions, including dietetics, the directive does not provide for automatic recognition of professional qualifications obtained in another member state. It provides for an assessment, on a case-by-case basis, of the formal qualifications and professional experience of an applicant against the qualifications required to practise in the host member state - in other words, Ireland. If deficits are identified, an applicant must be offered a compensation measure - that is, the choice of completing an adaptation period or taking an aptitude test. Because of the case-by-case nature of the assessment, the directive provides that applications must be acknowledged within one month and the applicant informed of any missing document. A final decision must be communicated to the applicant within four months of submission of a complete application.

Under SI 139 and 166 of 2008, which transpose the professional qualifications directive into Irish law, the Minister for Health is the competent authority for the assessment of dietetic qualifications. The Department of Health is advised on applications for recognition by the professional body, the Irish Nutrition and Dietetic Institute. There are currently no applications on hand which exceed the specified timeframe and in general, in the case of dietetics, applications are processed in a much shorter time.