Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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Question 137: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if she is the subject of enforcement proceedings for the non-transposition of EU directives into Irish law; if she has received any reasoned opinions from the EU Commission on the transposition of directives; if so, for which directives; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29061/07]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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A reasoned opinion has been issued by the European Commission relating to the transposition of EU Directive 2006/100 of 20 November 2006 in relation to mutual recognition of qualifications on the accession of Bulgaria and Romania.

Council Directive 2006/100 of 20 November 2006 was published on 20 December 2006 in the EU Journal. It sets out the titles of certain qualifications in respect of regulated professions in Bulgaria and Romania which should be included in the regime under the EU Directives on Recognition of Professional Qualifications with effect from accession on 1 January 2007. The effect of this proposal is to provide for automatic recognition of the sectoral qualifications (doctors, specialist doctors, nurses responsible for general care, dentists, midwives, veterinary surgeons, pharmacists and architects) which are listed for Romania and Bulgaria, and to provide that the general system regime will apply for the other professions on a case by case basis with effect from 1 January 2007.

The Department of Education and Science has national co-ordination responsibility for the EU Directives on professional qualifications. It has issued the Directive to all relevant Government Departments and Competent Authorities instructing them to apply Directive 2006/100 and the EU Directives on Mutual Recognition of Qualifications to all eligible applicants with effect from 1 January 2007. The Directive is being applied on an administrative basis from that date.

The transposition of the Directive has been integrated into the overall task of transposing 2005/36 into Irish law, due for transposition by 20 October 2007. To do otherwise would have made the process unnecessarily complex, given that 2 different regimes are applicable in the period in question and the limited timescale involved. The overall objective of 2005/36 is to provide a single consolidated framework for the application of the Directive conditions. My Department is transposing provisions for the General System covering the remaining professions.

A draft Statutory Instrument for the transposition of the general system under the Directive is undergoing final review and it is hoped that it will be completed in early December. In the meantime, the conditions are being applied by the relevant competent authorities on an administrative basis. The transposition regime undertaken for 2005/36/EC includes provision for automatic recognition of the sectoral qualifications listed for Romania and Bulgaria, which are included in Directive 2006/100/EC.