Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent)
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513. To ask the Minister for Health if he will review the current CORU processes for approving Irish citizen UK registered healthcare professionals to have their UK credentials and work experience recognised for the purposes of joining the Irish healthcare system (details supplied); if he is satisfied with the level of online support offered to applicants; if he condones a six to 12 month review process; if his attention has been drawn to the lack of personal engagement offered to applicants; if he has considered the fact that bureaucratic delays force much needed medical professionals to look for work elsewhere; the action CORU has taken to facilitate remote working in order to ensure timely and adequate responses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55590/21]

Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent)
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514. To ask the Minister for Health if he has considered the fact that immigrant or citizen healthcare workers returning to Ireland with a view to working in the Irish healthcare system may have to wait up to 12 months to have their qualifications recognised and approved by CORU and during such time while resident in the State have no opportunity to claim jobseeker’s allowance given their work experience has been conducted in another country; if he considers this situation conducive to the recruitment of outside health expertise; if he will bring forward proposals to rectify the extreme length of CORU application approvals along with adjusted social welfare entitlements that recognise the arduous application time; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55591/21]

Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent)
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515. To ask the Minister for Health if he or his Department has information on the average length of time taken to recognise in Ireland other EU country health qualifications by CORU; if he will reference average timelines for countries such as France, Germany and Italy; if he is satisfied with the current CORU approvals process; if he will provide tabulated evidence over the past 24 months on the number of applications and their approval response times; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55592/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 513 to 515, inclusive, together.

CORU is Ireland's multi-profession health regulator for regulating health and social care professionals. CORU’s role is to protect the public by regulating the health and social care professions designated under the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005 (as amended), including setting the standards that health and social care professionals must meet to be eligible to be registered and maintaining registers of persons who meet those standards There are two forms of application to CORU: applications for the recognition of qualifications received outside the State and applications for registration.

Professional qualifications awarded outside the State are assessed through a process of “recognition” which involves expert assessment of a qualification’s alignment with the standards of proficiency required in Ireland, and assessment of professional experience and lifelong learning where required. Where a health and social care professional qualifies outside the State and applies to register in Ireland, they must apply for the recognition of their qualification. EU/EEA applicants have the right to have their qualifications assessed in accordance with the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005, Directive 2005/36/EC on the Recognition of Professional Qualifications and the European Union (Recognition of Professional Qualifications) Regulations 2017 (SI No 8 of 2017). Once a complete file has been submitted to CORU, ie one containing all of the required documentation, a decision must issue within four months. A similar process applies to persons who have qualifications attained outside of the EU/EEA.

Data on the Number of Applications and Related Processing Times

In respect of the Deputy’s request data on the number of applications and their approval response times over the past 24 months, CORU has informed my officials that the average processing time for an application for registration is 9.2 weeks for new applicants entering a profession. This represents an improvement on an average processing time of 14 weeks, which was the case in early 2020.

Please find a table below providing data on timeframes for recognition decisions from 2016-2020.

Table A: Average number of days required to reach a recognition of qualifications decision

Table B: Number of individual decisions made (excluding post compensation measures and European Professional Card)

The average length of time required by equivalent bodies in France, Germany, and Italy is not available to this office.

I met with the Chairperson and CEO of CORU earlier this year and raised the issue of timeframes for the recognition of qualifications and registration applications. Following our discussion, several measures have been initiated by CORU aimed at further reducing timeframes.

Crucially, until this year, applicants were required to complete the recognition process before initiating the registration process unless they had confirmed job offers. All applicants are now invited to initiate an application for registration as soon as they have submitted a complete application file to the Recognition Department.

This is part of a suite of innovations which have been initiated following my discussions with CORU. Further steps underway as part of this programme for change include:

- Continued reorganisation of work processes to respond to the evolving working from home context (this has changed over time requiring step adjustments as the situation develops)

- Full transfer to an online application system

- Increased frequency of regulatory decision making (Registration Board meetings)

- Additional temporary staff resources

- Recruitment of additional expert assessors in ‘under pressure’ professions

In respect of the level of online support offered to applicants CORU’s reliance on email as its primary means of communication with applicants, CORU is aware of the inconvenience that this can cause applicants. Consequently, CORU is testing a new telephone system that will allow for improved engagement with applicants in the context of remote working. This Voice over IP (VoIP) solution is currently being tested for external use having been trialled internally.

My department will continue to support CORU in achieving its strategic vision and improving timeframes for all applicants into the future.

I have forwarded your query regarding a specific applicant to CORU for direct reply. Queries relating to an individual’s entitlement to an income support are a matter for the Department of Social Protection.