Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 3:

In page 6, line 10, after “State” to insert “, a Member State or the United Kingdom”.

Social care work is a designated profession under the Health and Social Care Professions Act 2005. The profession, as members will be aware, is due to be regulated by CORU in November this year. This Bill, as initiated, proposed amendments to the registration of social care workers during the two-year period following the opening of registration. During this period, special provisions allow for the grandfathering of existing practitioners, who do not hold the current approved qualifications but were legally practising the profession for a prescribed period. It is standard policy that when a profession is being regulated like this for the first time, there is a grandfathering aspect to it for existing practitioners. It was considered that the 2005 Act was not sufficiently clear that applicants seeking registration through grandfathering must have gained their professional experience in this country. One of the Bill’s original provisions was to make this more explicit.

Following Second Stage, concerns were raised by the Attorney General's office that the obligation that experience must have been gained in this State might not be compatible with EU law for reasons I think we all understand. This has therefore been further explored and legal analysis has concluded that the grandfathering route to registration must be available for appropriate experience gained in any member state to avoid the risk of indirect discrimination. Accordingly, this amendment provides for that.

I hope members will agree in view of our historical co-operation in matters relating to cross-border healthcare and strong worker mobility between Britain and Ireland and our unique geographies. I also believe it is important to make provision for acceptability of experience for the UK. It is essentially the EU and the UK. It upholds the common travel area, supports broader service provision and essentially makes it easier for workers North and South and east and west. CORU’s original position had been for a patient safety reason, it would be easiest for it to stand over experience gained in Ireland. The Attorney General felt we needed to go broader, to the EU and I have gone one step further and added Great Britain and Northern Ireland.