Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 1 June 2023
366. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Health the number of health professionals likely to be covered by the regulations of health professionals Bill; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26991/23]
View answerAs the Deputy may be aware the Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Bill 2022 has now passed all Oireachtas stages. The Bill's key provisions relate to certain registration routes for social care workers and access for holders of UK medical degrees who wish to take up intern posts here.
Once the register for social care workers opens, the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005 will provide five routes to registration - section 38 which will be used by graduates of one of the 30 approved social care work programmes and section 91 which will be available until November 2025 for those who have worked in the profession for two years by that deadline and either:
(i) hold a qualification specified in Schedule 3 of the Act or
(ii) hold a professional qualification deemed to be sufficiently relevant and attesting to a standard of proficiency comparable to a specified Schedule 3 qualification or
(iii) complete an Assessment of Professional Competence or
(iv) have been determined by their employer to meet the standards of proficiency for the profession in accordance with guidelines issued by CORU.
CORU has advised that there are in the region of 8,000-10,000 qualified social care workers in Ireland though it is difficult to give an exact number because of the multiplicity of employment titles used by the profession. It is not possible to estimate the number of applicants likely to avail of the five individual pathways to registration.
In relation to holders of UK medical degrees applying for intern posts, this has historically been low but is expected to increase as more students are encouraged to take up places in Northern Ireland in particular.
