Gay Mitchell
Ceist:216 Mr. G. Mitchell asked the Minister for Health and Children the reason for the delays in ratifying the registration of nurses from the Philippines by An Bord Altranais [6260/00]
Written Answers. - Nursing Staff.
Before taking up a nursing appointment it is necessary to be registered with An Bord Altranais. The board has statutory responsibility for the training and registration of nurses in this country and the recognition of qualifications obtained from abroad.
A nurse from the Philippines applying for registration with An Bord Altranais must forward a completed application form and the appropriate fee to the board. The applicant must then arrange for a transcript of education and training, verification of registration/licence and references to be sent directly from source to the board. Applicants are then assessed on an individual basis and will be approved if the applicant meets the standards-criteria set down by the board.
I understand that An Bord Altranais has been unable to process many of the applications on hand from nurses from the Philippines due to the extremely slow response of the Professional Registration Council in the Philippines to the board's requests for verification of applicants' education and training. However, the board states that decisions in relation to the requirements which must be fulfilled for registration have now been made on all the applications for which it has received the necessary documentation.