I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for the opportunity to speak on the Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014, which has three main objectives. First, it will provide for the subsuming of the Opticians Board into the Health and Social Care Professionals Council, CORU. Second, it will make certain amendments to the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005 in the interest of efficiency and to ensure consistency with legislation governing other health regulators. Third, it will amend the Health Act 1970 to ensure the statutory contribution payable by recipients of residential support services who are maintained, though not directly accommodated, by or on behalf of the Health Service Executive.
The regulatory body, the Health and Social Care Council, currently has the power to regulate 12 professional groups under a series of registration boards. Under the system of statutory registration that is being rolled out by these professions, individual members of a profession are recognised by a special body as competent to practise that profession under a formal mechanism underpinned by law. The council voted to establish a corporate requirement for the organisation to oversee and co-ordinate the registration board and to deal with complaints against registrants of the profession through the establishment and management of a fitness for practice regime.
The object of the council is to protect the public by promoting high standards of professional conduct and professional education, training and competence among registrants of the designated professions. To date, six registration boards have been established for the professions of social workers, radiographers, dietitians, speech and language therapists, occupational therapists and physiotherapists. It is planned to have all 12 boards and registers established by the end of 2015. When all the registration boards are in place, CORU will be responsible for the regulation of approximately 20,000 professionals. The word CORU originates from the Irish word cóir, meaning fair, just and proper. In time, when the registers are established for the receipt of registrants and a two-year transition period is completed, during which existing practitioners can register on the basis of recognised qualifications, only registrants of a registration board, who will be subject to the Act's regulatory regime, will be entitled to use the relevant designated title.
The dissolution of the Opticians Board will result in the statutory regulation, under CORU, of the professions of optometrists and dispensing opticians. A specialist regulation board, the optical registration board, will be established for this purpose. The change, supported by the Association of Optometrists Ireland, will affect 739 optometrists and 176 dispensing opticians who are currently registered with the Opticians Board and are likely to transfer to the new board.
The profession of radiographer will be divided to distinguish radiation therapists, who have distinct training and experience. Radiation therapists work with cancer patients and radiographers work in diagnostic X-ray departments.
The Bill amends the Act to allow registration boards under CORU to regulate more than one profession, such as the two professions to be regulated by the Radiographers Registration Board. Under existing legislation, CORU may only provide full registration. The Bill provides that where a person has a physical or mental disability, the council may register him or her with conditions attached to practise.
I wish the Minister, Deputy Leo Varadkar, the best and I thank the former Minister, Deputy James Reilly, for the work he did over the past three and a half years.
