Ms Ji-Youn Henning vs An Bord Altranais (Represented by Arthur Cox, Solicitors)
1. BACKGROUND
The complainant, Ms Ji-Youn Henning states that she trained as a general nurse in the Republic of Korea. Having worked initially in Korea and then in Germany, she moved to Ireland and in November, 2000 applied to an Bord Altranais for registration in Ireland as a general nurse. However, an Bord Altranais(the Board), up to the date of the hearing, had not granted registration to the complainant and it is her belief that the reason for the refusal to do so is connected with her Korean nationality and constitutes discrimination within the meaning of the Employment Equality Act, 1998. Ms Henning referred a complaint under the Act to the Director of Equality Investigations on 22nd July, 2002. The Director delegated the complaint for investigation and decision to Raymund Walsh, Equality Officer on 14th February, 2003 and a hearing of the complaint was held on 30th September, 2003. Further correspondence with the parties took place subsequent to the hearing culminating in a letter from the respondent's legal representative on 21st November, 2003.
2. SUMMARY OF COMPLAINANT'S CASE
The complainant states that she qualified as a general nurse in Korea in 1973 and worked there as a nurse for one year. She then moved to Germany and worked from 1975 to 1990 as a nurse in three different hospitals. Ms Henning moved to Ireland and applied for registration as a general nurse in November, 2000. The complainant criticises an Bord Altranais for the inordinate delay in processing her application for registration and its insistence that original documents confirming her registration in Korea be furnished by its counterpart in Korea when no such body exists in Korea. She also criticises an Bord Altranais for its insistence on receiving original certification documentation from the German authorities and states that she was not required to be registered in Germany. Ms Henning believes that an Bord Altranais look unfavorably on applicants from Korea and believes further that when she made it known that she was referring a complaint to the Director of Equality Investigations an Bord Altranais made matters more difficult for her. Ms Henning refers in particular to a phone call which she had with a member of staff at an Bord Altranais whom she quotes as saying "we have no experience with Korean nurses". Referring to figures obtained from the respondent, Ms Henning states that an applicant is generally registered within two to seven months of application while it took more than one year before she had the first written communication from the Board.
Ms Henning states that she furnished an Bord Altranais with
- copies of her educational qualifications from the responsible authority in Korea along with
- details of her work experience in Korea
- references from two hospitals/institutions where she worked more recently in Germany
- copies of certified translations of letters from the relevant regional authorities in Germany which confirm that there was no need for her to be registered in Germany.
Ms Henning states that an Bord Altranais have been condescending and arrogant towards her and that she is being financially disadvantaged by the Board's failure to expedite her registration. She was forced to give up a position as a nurse's aid because her registration had not come through.
3. SUMMARY OF THE RESPONDENT'S CASE
The respondent rejects the allegation that it has discriminated against Ms Henning on the race ground with regard to the manner in which it has processed her application for registration or victimised her for having referred a complaint to the Director. The respondent states that under the Nurses Act, 1985(No.18 of 1985) it is the statutory body charged with responsibility for registering nurses in Ireland and that it must exercise the utmost diligence and care in ensuring that only those nurses who meet the requisite standards are registered. The procedures followed by the Board in processing applications are outlined in Appendix 1. The Board requires verification of registration to be sent to it from the equivalent registration authority in the applicant's country of registration and the registration must be current. If the applicant has been practicing in a jurisdiction other than that in which they trained for a period of time prior to application, the Board will also seek verification of registration in that jurisdiction. The respondent states that verification is required not only to prove that the applicant is a nurse, but to ensure that the applicant is in good standing in that country, has no conditions attached to practice and has not been erased from any register for any professional misconduct or unfitness issue. The respondent also refers to Section 36(4) of the 1998 Act where it states :
(4) Nothing in this Part or Part II shall make it unlawful to require, in relation to a particular post
(a) the holding of a specified educational, technical or professional qualification which is a generally accepted qualification in the State for posts of that description, or
(b) the production and evaluation of information about any qualification other than such a specified qualification.
The respondent states that it is not unlawful for the Board either to impose registration requirements or require verification of registration, qualifications or work experience. Detailed evidence was given in the respondent's submission and at the hearing in relation to the respondent's various contacts with authorities in Korea, the German Embassy in Ireland and with a health authority in Germany as well as requests to the complainant's representative in its efforts to obtain original documents directly from the appropriate authorities regarding the complainant's registration. In correspondence received after the hearing the respondent outlined further contacts that have taken place since the hearing between it and officials of the German embassy in Dublin who have initiated an investigation with the relevant German authorities as to Ms Henning's registration status in Germany.
4. CONCLUSION
4.1 An Bord Altranais is the statutory body charged with the registration of nurses in Ireland and one cannot work as a nurse in Ireland without being registered with the Board. As the respondent has outlined above, the Board is obliged to establish to its satisfaction the current registration status of the complainant in the country where she trained or last worked as a nurse. I am satisfied that the Board controls entry to the profession of nursing within the meaning of Section 13 of the 1998 Act. I am satisfied also that Section 36(4) enables the Board to seek to verify the qualifications and experience of applicants for registration provide any such verification is carried out in an objective and impartial manner regardless of the country of origin of the applicant. I found nothing in the evidence to suggest that the complainant was treated unfavorably because of her Korean nationality. Statistical evidence was furnished subsequent to the hearing showing the breakdown by nationality of nurses registered in Ireland for the period 1998 to 2003 (September). Of the total of 21,817 registered in that period a total of 7,700 or 35% were non-Irish. Among the largest non-Irish contingents were the Philippines at 3,475, the UK 1,703, Australia 587 and India 392 while 7 were shown as Korean. Figures for applications refused since the year 2000 show that no Korean applicants were refused in that period while 3 applications were currently being processed.
Clearly the Board routinely registers nurses from many different countries and there was no evidence that the Board exercises a preference for applicants from any particular country. It was clear from the evidence that the Board does not deal regularly with the Korean or German authorities and there appeared to be a level of uncertainty about the registration procedures in those countries. The complainant for her part was reluctant to accept that the Board was obliged to fully investigate her previous registration status and obtain first hand documentary evidence from the appropriate authorities. I found no evidence to suggest that Ms Henning was treated unfavorably because of her Korean nationality or indeed victimise for having referred a complaint to the Director of Equality Investigations. I note from correspondence dated 19th December, 2003 and copied to me by the respondent that the Board is currently corresponding with the relevant authority in Darmstadt, Germany in its efforts to establish the facts relating to local registration requirements and Ms Henning's status in relation to those requirements.
5. DECISION
I find that the respondent did not discriminate against Ms Ji-Youn Henning on the race ground contrary to Sections 6 and 13 of the Employment Equality Act, 1998, in the manner in which it has dealt with her application for registration as a general nurse in Ireland or victimised her, contrary to the provisions of Section 74(2) of the Act for having referred a complaint to the Director of Equality Investigations.
Raymund Walsh
Equality Officer
12 January, 2004