Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 17 January 2024
1679. Deputy Brendan Howlin asked the Minister for Health the length of time it normally takes between the registration of an application with CORU for professional recognition as an occupational therapist and the verification of such an application by CORU; the number of such applications currently awaiting verification at present; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1331/24]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware, 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 for registration 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 and 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, i.e., one containing all the required documentation, a decision must issue within four months.
For applications for recognition, CORU have confirmed that the average time for processing complete applications for occupational therapists is 57 days at present. This timeline incorporates assessment of the recognition application, potential further information requests to applicants, and a decision by the Occupational Therapist Registration Board. As of Monday 8 January 2024, CORU had 8 applications for recognition queued for verification.
For applications for registration, CORU have confirmed that they are currently processing 153 applications. As of 31 December 2023, the average processing time for registration applications was 9 weeks.
CORU ran a ‘Frequently Seen Qualifications’ pilot project in 2022/2023 to test a new mechanism for reviewing qualifications awarded outside the State, which are:
• regularly presented by applicants, and
• have consistent positive outcomes (i.e. recognition of the qualification without the requirement to consider additional learning).
Initially the pilot covered two professions but was later extended to five including: Radiography; Social Work; Physiotherapy; Occupational Therapy; and Dietetics. The pilot has successfully concluded and the timeframe for decisions on qualifications in the process was reduced significantly.
Rollout of the ‘Frequently Seen Qualifications’ programme to include all CORU registered professions is now underway. Registration Boards will be invited to consider candidate programmes inclusion from December 2023. The rollout will include programmes awarded in the EU/EEA and beyond and will be driven primarily by volume, outcome and need. Mechanisms for delegation of individual decision-making are being developed in parallel.
In addition to the ‘Frequently Seen Qualifications’ programme, CORU have implemented, and are implementing, a number of initiatives to help improve the timeframes for both recognition and registration, including:
• Full transfer to an online application system
• Assignment of additional temporary staff resources
• Recruitment of additional expert assessors
• Work has been ongoing to identify possible new approaches for recognition of international qualifications. In addition, new systems operable within the law as it stands are being researched and tested to speed up the process.
• CORU invite applicants whose recognition applications are considered complete to apply for registration at that time so that the recognition and registration tasks can be processed in parallel.
• The frequency of Registration Board meetings has also been increased to allow for quicker decision-making.
