Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 January 2023
1683. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health the proposed professions which have yet to be regulated by CORU; the timeline for the regulation of each profession; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2182/23]
View answerAs the Deputy may be aware, CORU is Ireland’s multi-profession health and social care regulator. Seventeen health and social care professions are designated for regulation by CORU under the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005. There are currently registers open for ten professions.
CORU is continuing the substantial work required to open the registers for the remaining designated professions of Podiatrists; Social Care Workers; Counsellors and Psychotherapists; Clinical Biochemists; and Orthoptists.
The Register for Podiatrists opened on 31 March 2021. This began a 2-year transition period for existing practitioners to apply to register with CORU. On 31 March 2023, the title 'Podiatrist’ will become a legally protected title in Ireland.
The Social Care Workers Register will open on 30 November 2023. This will begin a 2-year transition period for existing practitioners to apply to register with CORU. On 30 November 2025, the title 'Social Care Worker' will become a legally protected title in Ireland.
The Psychologists Registration Board (PSRB) was established in 2017. In 2020 a public consultation on the draft Standards of Proficiency and Criteria for Education and Training Programmes developed for the profession revealed a lack of consensus on how to proceed with regulation. Having reached an impasse, CORU wrote to me on behalf of the PSRB seeking guidance on how to proceed. I wrote to CORU in August 2022 requesting the PSRB consider a dual stream and phased approach to regulating the profession, which would allow the PSRB to prioritise regulating psychology specialisms which present the greatest risk to public safety, while simultaneously continuing to work towards the long-term objective of protecting the title of ‘Psychologist’. The PSRB are now examining which specialisms should be prioritised for regulation and they will subsequently make a recommendation to me.
Counsellors and Psychotherapists were designated for regulation by my predecessor through S.I. No. 170 in 2018. The Counsellors and Psychotherapists Registration Board (CPRB) was established in 2019. The ongoing work of the CPRB includes consideration of the titles to be protected, the minimum qualifications to be required of existing practitioners, the qualifications that will be required for future graduates, and drafting the Standards of Proficiency and Criteria for Education and Training Programmes. The work of the Counsellors and Psychotherapists Registration Board is significantly more challenging than it is for registration boards for some of the more established professions owing to the different and complex pathways into these professions, the variety of titles used, and the variety and number of courses and course providers.
Owing to the significant body of preparatory work that the PSRB and CPRB are required to undertake, it is not possible to say with any degree of accuracy when these professions will be fully regulated. I would anticipate that these registration boards will require a number of years to complete their work.
Registration boards have not yet been established for Clinical Biochemists and Orthoptists.
