Vol. 512 No. 7
177 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Health and Children if he will make a statement on the situation whereby the European Commission is reported to have decided to take the first stage in legal proceedings against the Government for infringement of EU law concerning specialist doctor qualifications. [27323/99]
182 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Health and Children the reason his Department has failed to implement Directive 98/21 which revises the list of specialist medical diplomas qualifying for automatic recognition between member states under the terms of Directive 93/16/EEC due to have been implemented by 31 December 1998; and the other European countries that have failed to implement the Directive. [27330/99]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 177 and 182 together.
The implementation of EU directives concerning the recognition of medical qualifications is a matter for the Medical Council which has been designated as the competent authority for this purpose. A problem has arisen with a directive amending the name of a specialty. Officials of my Department have been in contact with the Medical Council about the matter and I am confident it will be resolved quite soon.
I am not aware that any other EU member state has not implemented this technical change.
