A Korean nurse who believed she was discriminated against because of her nationality has been told the evidence does not support her claim.
Ms Ji-Youn Henning of the Republic of Korea brought a case to the Equality Tribunal claiming An Bord Altranais - the nursing board - discriminated against her on grounds of race.
She said she applied for registration as a general nurse in November 2000, but believed the board delayed in processing her application. The board also insisted that original documents confirming her registration in Korea be furnished by its counterpart in Korea when no such body existed.
She claimed the board looked unfavourably on applicants from Korea and that when she made it known she was referring a complaint to the tribunal, the board made matters more difficult for her.
The board rejected the allegation of discrimination and said it must in processing applications exercise the utmost diligence and care in ensuring that only those nurses who meet the requisite standards were registered.
The Equality Officer said he found nothing in the evidence to suggest Ms Henning was treated unfavourably because of her Korean nationality or that she was victimised for referring her complaint to the tribunal.
Evidence provided showed that 21,817 nurses were registered for the period 1998 to September 2003. Of those, 7,700 or 35 percent were not Irish. The largest group were from the Philippines at 3,475, the UK, 1,703, Australia 587, India 392 while seven were shown as Korean.
Figures for applications refused since 2000 showed no Korean applicants were refused in that period while three were being processed.
The board was currently trying to establish facts relating to local registration requirements and Ms Henning's status in relation to them.