Written answer
Education and Training Provision
The Minister confirmed that Wrocław’s veterinary medicine qualification is listed under EU rules for automatic recognition and must be given the same effect in Ireland as UCD’s veterinary qualification, subject to registration with the Veterinary Council. Employers may nonetheless impose additional criteria for specific roles.
1506. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if the veterinary medicine course offered in Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences is equivalent in terms of qualification to the veterinary medicine course offered in UCD; and if not, the reason for this. [65438/26]
Comment on this
EU citizens may have professional qualifications obtained in one Member State recognised for the purposes of access to and exercise of a regulated profession in another Member State. The legal framework for this process is set out in Directive 2005/36/EC (https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2005/36/oj/eng) on the recognition of professional qualifications, as amended by Directive 2013/55/EU. The purpose of Directive 2005/36/EC is to facilitate the free movement of professionals within the European Union. It operates on the principle that a person who is fully qualified to practise a profession in one Member State may, subject to the provisions of the Directive, practise the same profession in another Member State.
The Directive provides for automatic recognition of qualifications for a specified number of professions, commonly referred to as sectoral professions. There are currently seven such professions in Ireland, namely architects, dentists, doctors, midwives, nurses, pharmacists and veterinary surgeons. Automatic recognition for these professions is based on harmonised minimum training requirements, with the relevant qualifications listed in Annex V of Directive 2005/36/EC. Qualification recognition is part of the pathway to registration with regulatory bodies and those wishing to receive this recognition are required to register with the appropriate body.
To be registered on the Irish Register of Veterinary Practitioners a professional must hold a qualification in veterinary medicine that is recognised for the purpose of registration by the Veterinary Council. One of these categories is qualifications awarded in EU member States listed in Annex V point 5.4.2 of Directive 2005/36/EC.
‘Dyplom lekarza weterynarii’ from Uniwersytet Przyrodniczy we Wrocławiu is listed in Annex V of the Professional Qualifications Directive as Evidence of formal qualifications of veterinary surgeons. In Ireland 'Diploma of Bachelor in/of Veterinary Medicine (MVB)’ is listed in Annex V of the Professional Qualifications Directive as Evidence of formal qualifications of veterinary surgeons.
Each EU Member State is obligated to recognise evidence of formal qualifications as a veterinary surgeon listed in Annex V 5.4.2, which satisfies the minimum training conditions referred to in the Directive. For the purposes of access to and pursuit of the professional activities, Member States are obliged to give such evidence the same effect on its territory as the evidence of formal qualifications which it itself issues.
While these measures can satisfy the qualification requirements of an individual applying for a role in a member state, an employer can apply criteria for a specific role to enable them to select appropriately qualified individuals for that role.