Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I clearly recall the presentation of the initial consideration dating back to the period to which Deputy Dan Neville referred during the tenure of the last Administration and the then Minister for Health and Children, Mary Harney. It was something I supported at the time and the Deputy has made a sustainable and convincing case. The point he makes on including psychological therapists and counsellors at this juncture merits the Minister's serious consideration. I will certainly support the amendment if it is pressed. Given that we have received confirmation that only five of the 12 designated professions are in a position to proceed with their own registration bodies, perhaps the Minister might reconsider the arguments presented by the Deputy.

I thank the Minister for providing information on the progress made on registration bodies, but he did not respond to the important question I raised regarding speech and language therapy and the prospect of lifting the recruitment embargo in recognition of the number of highly trained speech and language therapists who are in danger of being forced from our shores. I spoke about the identified demand. I wish to amend my use of the phrase "identified demand" with "identified need" to place even greater emphasis on my appeal. Will the Minister give us some hope this intolerable situation may be coming to an end?