Michael Ring
Ceist:254 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Health and Children when two persons (details supplied) will be validated by his Department. [5897/01]
Written Answers. - Occupational Therapy Qualifications.
For the purposes of the EU Directive on the Mutual Recognition of Qualifications, the Minister for Health and Children functions as the designated authority for validating non-national qualifications for employment as an occupational therapist in this country.
Citizens of an EU country, with an EU qualification, wishing to work in Ireland must apply to the Minister in order to have their qualifications recognised. Assessment of such foreign occupational therapy qualifications are carried out by the designated competent authority, school of occupational therapy in Trinity College, and the advisory body, the Association of Occupational Therapists of Ireland. The EU directive lays down a maximum timeframe for this validation process of four months from receipt of a completed application. However, if the application is not complete and it is necessary to request additional information from the applicant, the four month timeframe restarts on receipt of the additional information necessary to complete the application.
In the two cases referred to by the Deputy the four month deadline has not expired. The application in respect of the first named person was received in the Department during the last week of January 2001, forwarded to the relevant bodies on 5 February 2001 and it is currently being processed. It is expected the Department would be informed of the decisions of the relevant bodies on the application in the next few weeks.
The application of the second named person was received in the Department and forwarded to the relevant bodies during November 2000. Additional information was requested by the school of occupational therapy, Trinity College on 29 November 2000 and from the Association of Occupational Therapists of Ireland on 12 January 2001. The applicant and her prospective employer, who sent in the application and communicated with the Department on the applicant's behalf, were informed of the additional information required to complete the application. Some of the additional information requested has yet to be received and the application cannot proceed until it is received.