Terms and Conditions

The following Terms and Conditions will apply to all Professional Competence Schemes operated by the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) namely:

Surgery
Emergency Medicine
Sports & Exercise Medicine
Ophthalmology

Please read these Terms and Conditions carefully. By enrolling in a Professional Competence Scheme operated by RCSI you accept that you are bound by these Terms and Conditions. These Terms and Conditions may be modified at any time and such modifications will be effective immediately. The latest version of the Terms and Conditions will be published on the Professional Competence section of the RCSI website. Your continued participation in a Professional Competence Scheme following any such modifications shall be deemed your conclusive acceptance of the modified Terms and Conditions.

Before accepting the Terms and Conditions below please read Key Responsibilities of Registrant/Training Body / Medical Council / Employers.

I understand that I must enrol in a Professional Competence Scheme that best reflects my education, training, demonstrated competence and current practice and that I must also satisfy the published requirements of the recognised Postgraduate Training Body in respect of the Scheme.
I have read and understand the key responsibilities of Registrants/Training Bodies/Medical Council/Employers in relation to Professional Competence Schemes as referred to above.
Participants must notify their training body of any changes to their details in relation to their Professional Competence Scheme, e.g. change in scope of practice, change in registration with the Medical Council, changes to personal details etc.
Participation in a Professional Competence Scheme is subject to payment of an annual fee.
An Annual Certificate will be issued to Professional Competence Scheme participants which will state the total number of CPD credits accumulated over the 12 month period. This certificate will also state whether the target set for Audit has been achieved. This certificate does not in any way assure a participant's competence and must only be used for the purpose that it is intended i.e. if requested by the Medical Council.
I understand that RCSI will provide reports to the Medical Council in accordance with provisions of the Arrangements Document between the Medical Council and Postgraduate Training Bodies.
In the event that a participant does not achieve the minimum annual targets set out in the Scheme for 3 consecutive years I understand that the Postgraduate Training Body will notify the Medical Council of details of such participants and their performance within the Scheme.
It is the responsibility of participants to maintain true and accurate records of their professional development activities to ensure compliance with Scheme requirements. Appropriate evidentiary documentation will be determined by the Training Body.
Participants must submit upon request any supporting documentation required by the Medical Council for the purpose of monitoring and assessing declared compliance with the Medical Council's requirements in respect of Professional Competence Schemes.
Participants must cooperate with their Training Body's requirements if they become the subject of a Verification Audit including making available evidentiary documentation to support credits claimed.
Data collected within the operation of Professional Competence Schemes will only be disclosed to a third party to meet statutory obligations with respect to registration and current status on the Professional Competence Scheme or as otherwise disclosed to you.
Section 95(3) of the MPA 2007 states that all records relating to professional competence are exempt from the requirements of Freedom of Information Acts 1997 and 2003.
Participants must not attempt to access information to which they are not entitled, attempt to hack into the system in whole or in part, nor attempt to affect the system and/or its operation by any denial of service attack or similar or comparable act or omission. RCSI are entitled fully to co-operate with any law enforcement agency or authority or investigation in this regard.

GENERAL

RCSI's Professional Competence Online System is owned and operated by RCSI, with an address at 123 St. Stephen's Green, Dublin 2.

Your use of the system and the information on this system is subject to our terms and conditions of use which we have set out below (the "Terms"), and by accessing and using RCSI's Professional Competence Online System you agree, and you are signifying your agreement, that you have read, understood and agree to be bound by and subject to the Terms. Please ensure that you read the Terms carefully and in their entirety.

IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THESE TERMS DO NOT USE THIS ONLINE APPLICATION TOOL.

PERMITTED USE OF RCSI'S ONLINE APPLICATION SYSTEM

The purpose of RCSI's Professional Competence Online System is to facilitate the electronic submission of Online Applications for Professional Competence, online submission of CPD & Clinical Audit entries, uploading of verification of CPD and Clinical Audit entries and fee submission If you decide to rely on any of the information on RCSI's Professional Competence Online System, you do so at your own risk. Your use or reliance on content placed or submitted to this Portal is entirely at your own risk and to the greatest extent permitted by law, you hereby waive all rights and claims that you may have against us, or other providers of information in respect of such content and/or your or any third party's use and/or reliance on it.

We cannot guarantee that the information published on RCSI's Professional Competence Online System is error free and therefore you acknowledge that the information available on or through this system may include inaccuracies or typographical errors, despite our efforts to make sure this is not so. RCSI's Professional Competence Online System disclaims all liability for any errors relating to the information.

You acknowledge that RCSI's Professional Competence Online System has been specifically designed for use in the Republic of Ireland, and you agree not to use or access it in and from jurisdictions in which it or its contents are restricted or prohibited by local law.

APPLICATION

You represent and warrant that the information you provide about yourself when you make application to Professional Competence Online System is true, accurate and up-to-date.

RCSI's Professional Competence Online System may, at its absolute discretion, refuse to accept your application and/ or terminate your application without prior notice at its sole discretion.

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, neither RCSI nor any of its officers, directors, employees, agents, partners, licensors, affiliates or other representatives will be liable for loss or damages arising out of or in connection with your use of RCSI's Professional Competence Online Application System. Any other content offered on, through or from RCSI's Professional Competence Online System including, but not limited to, direct, indirect, incidental, special or consequential loss or damages, loss of data, loss of income, profit or opportunity, loss of or damage to property and claims of third parties, even if RCSI has been advised of the possibility of such loss or damages, or such loss or damages were reasonably foreseeable. In no event shall RCSI nor any of its officers, directors, agents, employees, affiliates or other representatives be liable for any loss or damages whatsoever resulting from the statements or conduct of any third party or the interruption, suspension or termination RCSI's Professional Competence Online System, whether such interruption, suspension or termination was justified or not, negligent or intentional, inadvertent or advertent.

Without limiting the foregoing, under no circumstances shall RCSI or any of its officers, directors, agents, employees, affiliates or other representatives be held liable for any delay or failure in performance resulting directly or indirectly from acts of nature, forces or causes beyond its reasonable control, including, without limitation, typographical errors, internet failure, computer equipment failures, telecommunication failures, other equipment failures, electrical power failures, strikes, lay-way disputes, riots, interactions, civil disturbances, shortages of labour or materials, fires, storms, explosions, acts of God, war, governmental actions, orders of domestic or foreign courts or tribunals, or the non-performance of a third party.

INDEMNITY

You agree to defend, indemnify, keep indemnified and hold RCSI (and as applicable, its officers, directors, employees, agents, licensors, subsidiaries, affiliates, suppliers and any of our third party information service providers) harmless against any and all demands, losses, expenses, damages and costs, including legal costs, and claims made by or liabilities to any third party resulting from any activities resulting from your use or misuse of the system or otherwise arising out of your breach of these Terms.

USE OF RCSI's PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE ONLINE SYSTEM

You agree not to use RCSI's Professional Competence Online System or any of its facilities and/or services for any purpose that is unlawful or prohibited by these Terms including but not limited to:

any purpose that is fraudulent, unlawful or prohibited by these Terms;
copying, modifying, transmitting, displaying, distributing, performing, reproducing, licensing, publishing, creating derivative works from, transferring or selling any information contained on or forming part of this Portal, or otherwise using such content of the RCSI's Professional Competence Online System for resale, redistribution or for any other commercial use whatsoever;
accessing or using the RCSI's Professional Competence Online System in and from jurisdictions which restricts or prohibits same by local law;
accessing or using RCSI's Professional Competence Online System in any manner which could damage, disable, overload, flood, mail bomb, crash or impair RCSI's Professional Competence Online System or interfere with any other party's use and/or enjoyment of RCSI's Professional Competence Online System;
transmitting material which may cause harm to our or any other party's computer systems, including but not limited to any material which contains viruses, Trojan horses, worms, spyware, adware, time bombs, cancelbots or other computer programming routines or engines that are intended to damage, destroy or otherwise impair a computer's functionality or the operation of RCSI's Professional Competence Online System;
harassing, harming or abusing another person, or contacting, advertising, soliciting, selling to any other person without their prior written consent or transmitting or relaying spam, junk email or chain letters;
accessing data or materials not intended for your use; logging into a server or account which you are not authorised to access; attempting to probe, scan or test the vulnerability of a system or network or to breach security or authentication measures without proper authorisation; or impersonating any person or entity, or falsely stating or otherwise misrepresenting their identity or affiliation in any way;
attempting to gain unauthorised access to RCSI's Professional Competence Online System, or any computer systems and networks connected to RCSI's Professional Competence Online System, through hacking, password miming or any other means; or
harvesting or otherwise collecting by any means any program material or information (including without limitation email address or details of other Users) from RCSI's Professional Competence Online System or monitoring, mirroring or copying any content of RCSI's Professional Competence Online System without the prior written consent of RCSI.

LINKS TO THIRD PARTY WEBSITES

RCSI's Professional Competence Online System may contain links to third party websites. Your use of third party portals is subject to the terms and conditions of use contained within each of those websites. Access to and use of any other websites through RCSI's Professional Competence Online System is at your own risk. RCSI is not responsible or liable for the accuracy of any information, data, opinions, or statements made on third party portals or the security of any link or communication with those websites. RCSI reserves the right to terminate a link to a third party website at any time. The fact that RCSI provides a link to any third party website does not mean that RCSI endorses, authorises or sponsors that website, nor does it mean that RCSI is affiliated with the third party websites, owners or sponsors. RCSI provides these links merely as a convenience for those who use RCSI's Professional Competence Online System.

AVAILABILITY

Although RCSI endeavours to ensure RCSI's Professional Competence Online System is available at all times, there may be occasions when interruption to RCSI's Professional Competence Online System may occur, e.g. to allow maintenance, upgrades and emergency repairs to take place, or due to failure of telecommunications links and equipment that are beyond RCSI's control. You agree that RCSI shall not be liable to you for any loss incurred by you resulting from your failure to access RCSI's Professional Competence Online System or from any modification, suspension or discontinuance of RCSI's Professional Competence Online Application System.

CHANGES IN TERMS AND CONDITIONS

To the greatest extent permitted by applicable law, RCSI reserves the right to change the content, services, presentation, performance, user facilities and/or availability of any part of RCSI's Professional Competence Online System at its sole discretion, including these Terms from time to time. Please read these Terms prior to every visit that you pay to RCSI's Professional Competence Online System as the Terms are subject to change.

PRIVACY STATEMENT

RCSI respects and protects the privacy of the individuals who access RCSI'S PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE ONLINE SYSTEM. For details of the type of information collected by RCSI's Professional Competence Online System, the uses for which the information collected by RCSI's Professional Competence Online System is used and the circumstances under which RCSI's Professional Competence Online System discloses information, please read the Privacy Statement which is hereby incorporated into and forms part of these Terms.

PROVISION OF INFORMATION

Information sent over the internet cannot be guaranteed to be completely secure as it is subject to possible interception or loss or possible alteration. You understand and agree to assume the security risk for any information you provide using RCSI's Professional Competence Online System. We are not responsible for any information sent over the internet and will not be liable to you or anyone else for any damages or other loss incurred in connection with any information sent by you to us or any information sent by us to you over the internet.

JURISDICTION AND GOVERNING LAW

RCSI's Professional Competence Online System is controlled and operated by RCSI from Ireland. In accessing RCSI's Professional Competence Online Application System, you do so at your own risk and on your own initiative, and are responsible for compliance with local laws, to the extent any local laws are applicable.

The Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Ireland, and you hereby agree for the benefit of RCSI and without prejudice to the right of RCSI to take proceedings in relation to the Terms before any court of competent jurisdiction, that courts of Ireland shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine any actions or proceedings that may arise out of or in connection with these Terms, and for such purposes you irrevocably submit to the jurisdiction of such courts.

WAIVER

The failure of RCSI to exercise or enforce any right or provision of the Terms shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any provision of the Terms is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, the parties nevertheless agree that the court should endeavour to give effect to the parties' intentions as reflected in the provision, and the other provisions of the Terms remain in full force and effect.

ENTIRE AGREEMENT

You acknowledge that the Terms constitute the entire agreement between you and RCSI and govern your use of RCSI's Professional Competence Online System superseding any prior agreements between you and RCSI. In the case of inconsistencies between the Terms and information included in off-line materials, (e.g., promotional materials and flyers), the Terms will always prevail. You may also be subject to additional terms and conditions that may apply when you use affiliate services, third-party content or third-party software.

SUSPENSION/TERMINATION

RCSI may at any time, without notice to you, suspend or terminate your access to RCSI's Professional Competence Online System, wholly or partially for any reason, including without limitation, where you are in breach of these Terms. If RCSI cannot verify or authenticate any information submitted to RCSI's Professional Competence Online System, or if for any reason RCSI suspends or discontinues RCSI's Professional Competence Online System RCSI reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to pursue all of its legal remedies upon breach by you of these Terms, including but not limited to deleting and discarding any data from RCSI's Professional Competence Online System and restricting your ability to access RCSI's Professional Competence Online System. Further, you agree that RCSI shall not be liable to you or any third party for any modification, termination or suspension of your access to RCSI's Professional Competence Online System provided through RCSI's Professional Competence Online System.

Use of Technical Information

Cookies

Cookies are small data files that RCSI'S Professional Competence Online System can use in order to recognise visitors who revisit the portal so as to facilitate their ongoing access to and use of the portal. Cookies are used by portals to store visitors' user settings and therefore most browsers are initially configured to accept cookies. Typically, cookies involve the assigning of a unique number to the visitor.

You should be aware that RCSI'S Professional Competence Online System is unable to control the use of cookies or the resulting information by other third parties or parties hosting data for RCSI'S Professional Competence Online System. One simple way to prevent the use of cookies is to activate the facility which is available in most web browsers that enables a user to deny or accept cookies. However, you should realise that certain cookies may be necessary in order to provide you with certain features such as the customised delivery of certain information.

Disclosure of Personal Information

RCSI will not rent, sell or share your personal information with any third party except as described in this Privacy Statement or as otherwise agreed by you.

You acknowledge and agree that in certain circumstances we may need to disclose personal information relating to you to third parties, for example, regulatory bodies may request information contained in an applicant's submission or data entered or a statutory body may request statistical information which may be informed by your personal information. In other instances we may be obliged to disclose your personal information in order to conform to any requirements of law or to comply with any legal process, as well as to protect and defend the rights of RCSI, and/or our users.

Where we ask you for sensitive personal data, as defined in the DPA, we will ask for your consent to use it for a specific purpose.

Links to Third Party Portals/Sites

You should also be aware that where you link to or from another website from RCSI'S Postgraduate Examinations Online System, RCSI has no control over that other site. Accordingly, RCSI cannot guarantee that the controller of that site will respect your privacy in the same manner as RCSI.

Access to your Personal Information

You have the right to request a copy of the information which we hold about you (for which we may charge you a small statutory fee) and to have inaccuracies in the information corrected.

If at any time the personal information that we hold about you becomes out of date, you are free to notify us and we will remove or rectify the information within a reasonable time and in accordance with legislative requirements.

Please address your requests in writing to the Data Protection Officer, Information and Communication Technology Department, 123 St. Stephen's Green, Dublin 2 or email data.protection@rcsi.ie. For further details on your data privacy rights, please refer to www.dataprotection.ie.

Disclaimer

RCSI, ITS DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, SERVANTS AND AGENTS, PARTNERS AND CONTRIBUTORS, AFFILIATES OR OTHER REPRESENTATIVES AND THEIR RESPECTIVE PARENT AND SUBSIDIARY COMPANIES, SHALL NOT BE LIABLE IN RESPECT OF ANY CLAIMS, EMERGENCIES, DEMANDS, CAUSES OF ACTION, DAMAGES, LOSSES, EXPENSES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, REASONABLE LEGAL FEES AND COSTS OF PROCEEDINGS ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION RELATING TO YOU IN ACCORDANCE WITH THIS PRIVACY STATEMENT AND YOUR CONSENTS.

Amendments

RCSI reserves the right in its sole discretion to amend this Privacy Statement at any time, and you should regularly check this Privacy Statement for any amendments. This statement should not be construed as a contractual undertaking.

Contact details

If you have any questions about this Privacy Statement or your interactions with this portal, you may contact us:
Telephone: 01 402 2273
Email: data.protection@rcsi.ie
Address: Data Protection Officer, Information and Communication Technology Department, 123 St. Stephen's Green, Dublin 2