Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will be short and sweet.

I welcome the Minister and his officials. I support the motion on the technical regulations to restore a lay majority on the council. Any opportunity to have lay people involved in an organisation is good.

Like Deputy Billy Kelleher and Senator Colm Burke, I am concerned about the position of physical therapists and physiotherapists, by whom we have all been lobbied. There over 300 physical therapists practising in the country. A member of my extended family enjoyed huge success in visiting a physical therapist on a number of occasions. There is an opportunity to look at and outline what the problems of the people concerned are and why they believe they may lose out as a result of what is being put in place. I hope the Minister will reply to some of the points made.

I agree with Deputy Dan Neville who raised a very important point. On a regular basis, I meet people who tell me they have visited all kinds of counsellor. When I look at their cases, it reminds me of the time when FÁS was in place. My husband spent seven years trying to be a carpenter and joiner - I should not say trying to be because he is a carpenter - but I remember trying to convince somebody who had taken a six-month FÁS course that he was a full-blown carpenter. It reminds me of the days when people thought they could sign up, take a course and consider themselves to be fully qualified. There are many courses that I would call yellow pack courses. People are hoodwinked into signing up and thinking a certificate is the be all and end all. It is something that needs to be looked at and regulated better.

I have nothing further to say about the Minister's proposal other than that I agree with it.