Vol. 492 No. 4
67 Mr. Higgins (Mayo) asked the Minister for Health and Children the proposals, if any, he has to introduce legislation to provide for State registration of chiropodists and podiatrists; the plans, if any, there are to establish a national training school of chiropoditary and podiatry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14006/98]
The question of establishing a system of statutory registration for certain designated health and social professions, including the profession of chiropody, has been under consideration by my Department for some time. However, despite various initiatives over recent years, great difficulties still remain in devising a system which would meet all the requirements of the various professions and which would provide for a system of self-financing self-regulation. This issue is once again being examined within my Department at present, with other models for statutory registration being investigated in an effort to overcome the difficulties in question.
There have been several attempts in recent years to establish a national school of chiropody but all such initiatives have been unsuccessful as it has not been possible to gain agreement between the various relevant groups on many of the pertinent issues.
