Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)
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Question 236: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills the guidelines that exist for qualification recognition for qualifications obtained overseas; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22505/10]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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There are two main modes of recognition for qualifications obtained overseas: the recognition of academic qualifications and the recognition of professional qualifications in regulated professions. In 2004 Ireland became a signatory to the 1997 Lisbon Convention on the recognition of qualifications in higher education in the European Region. The Convention requires that qualifications issued by other parties to the Convention for access to higher education be recognised in the host State unless a substantial difference can be shown in the requirements of the host State vis a vis those in the home State. The Convention requires that transparent mechanisms be established for the assessment and recognition of higher education qualifications.

Under the Qualifications (Education and Training) Act, 1999 the National Qualifications Authority of Ireland (NQAI) has statutory responsibility for facilitating the recognition in the State of academic awards made by bodies outside the State. In 2003 the NQAI assumed the role of the Irish ENIC-NARIC (European Network of Information Centres- National Academic Recognition Information Centre) and since then has established a qualifications recognition service (found at the website www.qualificationsrecognition.ie) which is aimed at individuals, employers, education providers and other stakeholders who may have enquiries concerning education and training awards made outside of Ireland.

The recognition service website includes an International Qualifications Database which contains information regarding foreign qualifications which have been processed to date by the National Qualifications Authority of Ireland and states the advice that has been issued regarding the comparability of the qualifications in Ireland. The recognition service receives a large number of formal applications for recognition information annually, peaking at over 2,000 in 2008, and the website was visited over 55,000 times during 2009. Professional qualifications are those qualifications which a person is required to hold in order to access a particular profession e.g. medicine. The qualifications which are required are set down by a competent authority and that body is then responsible for assessing a person's qualifications to ascertain whether that person should be granted access to that profession.

The main mechanism by which professional qualifications are recognised in Ireland is set down in EU Directive 2005/36 on the Recognition of Professional Qualifications. The purpose of the Directive, which came into force in October 2007, is to help make labour markets more flexible, further liberalise the provision of services, encourage more automatic recognition of qualifications, and simplify administrative procedures. Under the Directive, provisions are made whereby Professionals qualified in one (home) Member State can seek professional recognition of their qualifications in another (host) Member State for the purpose of practising their profession in that host Member State. My Department is co-ordinating authority for the implementation of the Directive and information regarding the Directive is available on my Department's website.

Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)
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Question 237: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills the procedures that are in place for the documentation of prior learning; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22506/10]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) is a process by which learning that has already taken place prior to enrolment on a programme of study is given a value. This learning process may have taken place formally through a further or higher education provider or informally or non-formally through work/life experiences. The broad aim of RPL is to enable and encourage people to enter or re-enter formal education, leading to qualifications, by awarding or recognising credit for what is already known of the course curriculum.

The National Framework of Qualifications incorporates a wide range of awards recognising learning wherever it is gained. The Framework is an important tool in recognising prior learning as it is based on learning outcomes. The recognition of prior learning can be facilitated by referencing the learning outcomes included at each level of the Framework. In 2005, after consultation with relevant stakeholders, the National Qualifications Authority of Ireland (NQAI) set out principles and operational guidelines for a national approach to RPL. These were developed as a first step in coordinating the work of awarding bodies and providers of RPL. They address quality, assessment, documentation, communication and guidance. The principles are intended to encourage the development and expansion of processes for RPL by education and training providers and awarding bodies.

Under the Qualifications (Education and Training) Act, 1999 it is a requirement that providers who have programmes validated by either HETAC or FETAC or which have been delegated authority to make awards and the Dublin Institute of Technology implement the NQAI's procedures on access, transfer and progression, including policy on RPL. Universities, as autonomous awarding bodies, are each responsible for RPL in their respective institutions. The NQAI, in drafting the principles and guidelines referred to above, requested that universities would have regard to them in developing their own RPL procedures. Ireland was one of 20 countries to take place in an OECD study on the Recognition of Non-Formal and Informal Learning and 2008. The findings of this study form the basis of ongoing actions to strengthen arrangements in this area.