The Construction Industry Federation (CIF) has advised its members that an Interim Agreement has been reached between FAS and CITB (UK) for the exchange of FAS CSCS and CPCS Plant Operations Cards.

The agreement puts in place a process allowing personnel who hold the relevant cards in one jurisdiction to obtain the appropriate card for working in the other country.

FAS and the Construction Plant Competence Scheme (CPCS) provide registration cards for the Irish and UK construction industries. These registration cards recognise the skills and qualifications of the holders and provide evidence of their competence to undertake the work.

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Both FAS and CPCS had operated a mutual recognition of each others registration cards but this came to a stop last December when the both organisations stopped recognising each the training cards of the other organisation.

As the practice had been for Irish construction workers to have either FAS or CPCS registration cards, this change in recognition prevented Irish construction workers from carrying out their jobs both in Ireland and the UK.

However, following on from the agreement reached last week there is now a solution in place.

More information can be found on the CIF website at www.cif.ie

(CD/JP)