Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 30 Oct 1991

Vol. 411 No. 7

Written Answers. - Recognition of Qualifications.

John Bruton

Ceist:

30 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Education if she will outline the action being taken on the proposal in page 272 of NESC Report No. 90 that there should be negotiations between the Irish and United Kingdom authorities to achieve better knowledge and recognition of Irish educational and training qualifications amongst employers in the United Kingdom.

Minister for Education (Mrs. O'Rourke)

I have examined the report referred to by the Deputy and the recommendation contained in it that an EC-funded project should be developed to help build a close working relationship between Irish and UK training authorities.

In the context of the European Community, negotiations between Ireland and the United Kingdom have taken place over the years on the mutual recognition of qualifications. These negotiations at EC level have resulted in a number of sectoral directives on the recognition of the qualifications of architects, nurses, veterinary practitioners, pharmacists and medical doctors. A more general directive 89/48/EEC on the mutual recognition of regulated professions requiring three or more years higher education, came into effect this year. This covers a wide range of regulated professions at this level not already covered by the sectoral directives. The effect of these EC directives is to greatly increase the acceptance of Irish professional qualifications in the UK both by professional bodies and employers. The benefit has been particularly significant in the case of Irish trained teachers seeking qualified teacher status in England and Wales where I understand that, since Directive 89/48/EEC was implemented in that jurisdiction, upwards of 1,000 Irish teachers have secured recognition.

Negotiations are currently at an advanced stage for a second general EC directive on the mutual recognition of qualifications requiring education and training of less than three years higher education. This will also have the effect of facilitating recognition of Irish qualifications at this level in the UK.

At a bilateral level there is mutual recognition between Ireland and the UK of qualifications over a range of professions, particularly in the areas of accountancy and financial services. The Deputy will also be aware that FÁS have recently made a joint certification agreement with City and Guilds whereby participants on a range of FÁS training courses qualify for certification issued under the joint authority of the two awarding bodies.

He will also be aware of the action I took in August to establish a national council for vocational awards whose main task will be to establish a framework of levels of qualification for training course run outside the third-level educational system.

The new council will introduce a national system of certification classified by level and based on participants' competence. It will be more comprehensible to employers both here and in the UK. I am confident that it will contribute greatly to removing any lack of knowledge among British employers about the meaning and quality of Irish education/ training qualifications.

In addition, my Department are preparing an information leaflet in relation to the leaving certificate which will outline the structure of the course, the subjects covered, the standard involved, the numbers of such subjects which would typically be taken by an Irish leaving certificate student and the levels of assessment used in the examinations.

The statement will point out that the leaving certificate is the accepted qualification for entry to university and other third level institutions here and is used for recruitment to a variety of employments in Ireland. It will also state that the leaving certificate is widely accepted for entry to third-level education in the UK.

It is intended that the information leaflet be given wide circulation to include, for example, Irish embassies abroad, organisations catering for Irish emigrants, and employer representative organisations in Britain.