Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 8 June 2016
437. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Health his plans to introduce regulation of the counselling and psychotherapy profession to address this serious public health issue, in view of a recent newspaper article (details supplied) which stated that members of the public are participating in online, unaccredited courses in counselling and then practising in this area [14598/16]
Amharc ar fhreagra438. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Health when the consultation phase for the statutory regulation of counselling and psychotherapy (details supplied) will take place; and how soon after that regulation of the sector will be introduced. [14600/16]
Amharc ar fhreagra439. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Health when he will regulate the counselling and psychotherapy sector (details supplied) [14601/16]
Amharc ar fhreagra440. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Health if there is any provision for the possibility of grandfathering to take place in order that regulation will allow professionals who have been practising for a long period to be eligible to work as accredited counsellors and psychotherapists in view of the standards set by Quality and Qualifications Ireland that those who want to work as professional practitioners will have to achieve. [14602/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 437 to 440, inclusive, together.
The regulation of the 14 professions currently designated under the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005 is being implemented on a phased basis as the registration board and register for each profession is established. Currently, nine of the 14 designated professions have registration boards and registers have been established for seven of them.
Psychotherapists and counsellors are not currently regulated under the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005. However, the Act provides that the Minister for Health may, by regulation, designate a health and social care profession not already designated if he or she considers that it is appropriate and in the public interest to do so and if specified criteria have been met.
Grandfathering of existing practitioners with minimum qualifications to be specified by regulation is provided for under the Act.
In accordance with the Act, the Health and Social Care Professionals Council has been consulted on the question of regulating counsellors and psychotherapists. Its detailed report on the matter is being examined carefully in the Department of Health with a view to deciding the next steps in the coming months. These steps will, I envisage, include a wider round of consultation involving the various professional bodies and other interested parties.
The regulation of a new profession under the Act involves a consultation process and the making of a number of statutory instruments by the Minister for Health and by the relevant registration board. I envisage that, subject to the outcome of consultations, the statutory phase to regulate counsellors and psychotherapists under the Act will begin later this year or early next year with the submission of draft designation regulations to the Houses of the Oireachtas for their approval. Thereafter, I expect that the registration board should be constituted and operating during 2017. By the end of 2018, or early 2019, the board should be in a position to make the various bye-laws to allow it to accept applications for registration. In parallel, the regulations to protect titles and to prescribe the qualifications to be required of existing practitioners would be drafted and enacted.
While the profession or professions of counsellor and psychotherapist are not specifically designated under the 2005 Act, counsellors and psychotherapists are subject to legislation similar to other practitioners including consumer legislation, competition, contract and criminal law. There are also various regulatory controls on many counsellors and psychotherapists operating in Ireland.
The profession of psychologist, for example, is a designated profession under the 2005 Act which means that those psychologists who are counsellors and/or psychotherapists will begin to be regulated when the Psychologists Registration Board, which is due to be established later this year, opens its register.
Psychiatrists, some of whom practice psychotherapy, are regulated under the Medical Practitioners Act 2007. Also, counsellors/therapists working in the publicly funded health sector are required to have minimum qualifications set by the Health Service Executive under the Health Act 2004.
