Andrew Doyle
Question:70. Deputy Andrew Doyle asked the Minister for Education and Skills if Ireland recognises PhDs from universities in each of the other 27 EU member states; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38919/13]
View answerThursday, 19 September 2013
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Written answers
It is a matter for individual employers, education institutions and professional recognition bodies to decide on whether they wish to recognise any academic qualifications from abroad. However, Ireland does have systems in place for assisting individuals in having their qualifications recognised.
The Qualifications Recognition Service at Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI) represents Ireland in a worldwide network of centres concerned with sharing information on qualifications and education systems which is known as ENIC/NARIC (European National Information Centre/National Academic Recognition Information Centre). Qualifications Recognition also acts as the Irish NRP (National Reference Point) for vocational qualifications throughout Europe.
Ireland ratified the Lisbon Recognition Convention (LRC), under which the NARIC system was established, on 8 March 2004. It should be noted that the LRC is a Council of Europe initiative, rather than being based on the European Union, and has been ratified by approximately 50 countries including all of the EU Member States.
Qualifications Recognition uses the Irish National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ) as the basis for the recognition of foreign qualifications in Ireland and aims to compare a foreign award to a major award that is placed at a particular level on the NFQ. Qualifications Recognition aims to provide fair recognition for foreign qualifications through the implementation of LRC guidelines and best practices. Criteria used to assess comparability include the following where applicable and in no particular order: - Status of the awarding body in the country of origin- Access requirements- Progression opportunities- Purpose for which assessment is sought-Level on national Qualifications Framework- Referencing to over-arching Qualifications Frameworks - Learning outcomes- Credits/Volume of learning Since 2008, Qualifications Recognition has been presented with 14 applications for recognition of Doctoral Degrees (Ph. D.) from within the EU.