Ms Deirdre Walsh:

No. That point came out clearly in the 84 submissions we received from the public consultation. Under the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005 we must establish an academic qualification standard and protected titles. There are two parts to that. Let us say we are going ahead with counselling and psychotherapy. There are two sets of qualifications involved. One is for future graduates or future entry to the profession. That is the easier part to set. It is not very easy, but it is easier. One establishes a standard, be it at level 8, level 7 or whatever. That is for new people going into education to pursue that profession. The difficulty arises with the vast number of people who are already practising, who have a range of qualifications and none. In the consultation process we are looking at the grandparenting qualification. We must arrive at a qualification standard that will capture a sufficient amount of people who are currently practising. One of the matters coming through in the consultation process is that, given the nature of counselling and psychotherapy, it will have to be a uniquely devised grandparenting, multilayered approach. It could be people who have a qualification, not of a very high standard, and 30 years of safe practice; it could be people who have quite a high qualification and a very good standard. We have to find ways of establishing routes to grandparenting and that is a big exercise.