INFORMATION FOR NON-IRISH AUTHORITIES/EMPLOYERS

VERIFICATION OF GOOD STANDINGOR PROFESSIONAL STATUS OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE PROFESSIONALS IN IRELAND

The Health and Social Care Professionals Council (CORU)will in time provide for the statutory registration of twelve separate health and social care professions (clinical biochemist; dietitian; medical scientist; occupational therapist; orthoptist; physiotherapist; podiatrist; psychologist; radiographer (diagnostic radiographer and radiation therapist), social care worker; social worker; speech and language therapist), each of which will have its own registration board.

Statutory registration for social workers, radiographers, speech and language therapists, dietitiansand occupational therapists has commenced with the establishment of their respective registration boards and the opening of their registers. All twelve registration boards and their registers are expected to be established by 2016. Until the registration board for a particular profession opens its register, persons are free to work in the private health sector in Ireland without having their qualifications recognised/ being registered.

At present, certain health and social care professionals with non-Irish qualifications wishing to seek employment in the publicly funded health sector in Ireland must apply to have their qualifications recognisedunder Directive 2005/36/EC on the recognition of professional qualifications. The professions for which the Minister for Health is competent authority under the Directive are set out below. The recognition process is an assessment of the equivalence of a non-Irish qualification to the Irish entry-level qualificationrequired for employment in the Health Service Executive, which is responsible for the delivery of health services in Ireland. Qualification recognitionis not a statement of suitability for a particular post, language competence, disciplinary action etc. These are recruitment issues for the individual employer.

The Validation Unit at the Department of Health cannot provide verification of the good standing or professional status of persons who state that they have practised their profession in Ireland – either persons with Irish qualifications or persons whose overseas qualifications have been recognised for the purpose of public sector employment in Ireland.

The qualifications required to practise in the publicly funded health sector for the various health and social care professions are listed under the specific application process for each profession on this web page (see section on Irish Health Competent Authorities).

When each registration board at CORU opens its register there is a two year transitional period during which existing practitioners can apply for registration. It is not possible for CORU to verify the good standing of registered practitioners until full registration is established following this transitional period. Further information on statutory registration is available at and on other matters by emailing the Validation Unit at .

April 2015

Health and Social Care Professions for which the Minister for Health is the competent authority in Ireland under Directive 2005/36/EC

Audiologist
Clinical Biochemist
Environmental Health Officer / Orthoptist
Chiropodist/Podiatrist
Psychologist