John Deasy
Question:372 Mr. Deasy asked the Minister for Health and Children the qualifications which are required for a person with nursing qualifications in the Czech Republic to allow them to take up nursing here. [3493/03]
Written Answers. - Nursing Qualifications.
I have made inquiries with An Bord Altranais and have been informed that European Directive 77/452/EEC describes the titles and qualifications in the various EU countries that are deemed to have been harmonised to minimum EU standards. Evidence of possession of the title or qualification is sufficient for automatic recognition without further action on application to the competent authority which, in the case of the Republic of Ireland, is An Bord Altranais. Directive 77/453/EEC describes the nature and content of the minimum acceptable training programme. The central components of this are a general school education of ten years duration attested by a diploma, certificate or other formal qualification awarded by the competent authorities or bodies in the member state, or a certificate resulting from a qualifying examination of an equivalent standard of entrance to a nurse training school. Full-time training of a specifically vocational nature which must cover the subjects of the education and training set out in the annex to the directive and comprise a three year course or 4,600 hours of theoretical and practical instruction. No less than one third of the programme should be devoted to theoretical instruction and no less than half the programme devoted to clinical instruction. The annex to the directive provides a detailed breakdown of the theoretical and technical instruction areas within nursing, basic sciences and social sciences. It also provides for the different aspects of clinical instruction required. This directive applies to EU standards for nurse education and training. The competent authorities within member states are empowered to ensure that all nurse education and training programmes within the jurisdiction meet and achieve these minimum standards. An Bord Altranais, as the competent regulatory authority in the Republic of Ireland, uses Directive 77/453/EEC to inform its strategy for assessing applications for registration from non-EU applicants who qualified as nurses in countries outside of the European Union. The assessment also includes reference to relevant post-registration education and relevant post-registration clinical practice. Further information on this matter is available directly from An Bord Altranais.
Question No. 373 answered with Question No. 135.
Question No. 374 answered with Question No. 110.