Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 October 2023
501. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Health how long, on average, Coru is currently taking to process appeals for physiotherapists trying to register in Ireland; what steps he is taking to reduce this time period considering the shortage of physiotherapists in Ireland, particularly in light of the extended time periods Coru are taking to consider applications for registration to begin with; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44702/23]
View answerAs the Deputy will already be aware, CORU (the overall name given to the Health and Social Care Professionals Council and the registration boards of the regulated professions) is Ireland's multi-profession health and social care regulator set up by the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005 (Act). The role of CORU is to protect the public by promoting high standards of professional conduct, education, training and competence through statutory registration of health and social care professionals. Each profession designated under the Act has its own registration board which is responsible for both the recognition of international qualifications and the registration of applicants (both Irish qualified and overseas qualified) from its own profession.
Physiotherapy qualifications awarded outside the State are assessed through a process of ‘recognition’ which involves comparison of the qualification with the standard of proficiency required of accredited Irish physiotherapy qualifications. Applicants with overseas qualifications must complete the recognition process before registration can be obtained. CORU have confirmed that the average timeframe for internationally accredited physiotherapists to have their qualification recognised is 75 days based on data from Q1 – Q3 of 2023.
CORU invits applicants whose recognition applications are considered complete and ready to be assessed to apply for registration at that time so that the recognition and registration tasks can be processed in parallel. Once a qualification has been recognised as equivalent to an Irish qualification, an applicant can obtain registration. Members of the public can have confidence in knowing that a physiotherapist's standing and qualifications have been independently verified when registered with CORU. Registration applies to both Irish and overseas trained physiotherapists and CORU have confirmed that the average time for registration is eight weeks.
All applicants for recognition of international qualifications and/or registration have the right to appeal decisions made by registration boards on both recognition and registration applications to the Appeals Committee established by CORU. All appeals made to CORU across the professions are progressed as soon as reasonably practicable. I am advised that the number of appeals in a given year is typically in the order of 1.5% to 7%.
The Appeals Committee panel has three members - a public interest member, a member from another profession and a member of the profession of the appellant. It can do one of the following:
• Confirm the decision of the Registration Board.
• Direct that registration be granted.
• Direct a new recognition decision be made.
• Give other directions to the Registration Board.
Applicants who appeal are also afforded the opportunity to reapply for recognition/registration if they are relying on an appeal following the provision of additional information which they did not submit with their initial application for recognition/registration and if time is of the essence for those applicants.
Appeal timelines have increased from an average of 4-6 months in previous years to in excess of nine months currently. This has resulted from an exponential increase in appeals across all professions in 2022 which has continued into 2023. It should be noted the increase in appeals was commensurate with a significant increase in the volume of applications for recognition in 2022 and 2023. In 2022, there were 28 appeals from internationally qualified physiotherapists and 19 had been received by end-July in 2023 while in 2019 a total of 14 appeal applications were received for all professions.
Appeals have been heard at an accelerated rate since early 2023, with the imperative being due regard to the principles of fair procedures and proportionality in the protection of the public for all aspirant registrants and facilitating access to the register. Timeframes for processing appeals remain under review between the Department of Health and CORU.
