Further to Parliamentary Question 37780/17, the Joint Committee on Health met on 7 March, 2018 to consider the regulations to designate the professions of counsellor and psychotherapist and establish the registration board under the Health and Social Care Professionals Act, 2005.
These regulations were subsequently approved by both houses of the Oireachtas on 22 March 2018 and will be signed by me later this month.
The next steps include the appointment of the 13 members of the Counsellors and Psychotherapists Registration Board by way of an advertisement campaign by the Public Appointments Service and the submission by the service of suitable candidates for my consideration. The registration board, once appointed later this year will undertake an extensive programme of work including the drafting of the various bye-laws to allow it to establish its registers.