Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 5:

In page 6, to delete lines 17 to 19 and substitute the following:

“(b) applies during the transitional period to the Social Care Workers Registration Board for registration,

(c) complies with section 37(2) and with any requirement imposed on, or request made to, the person under section 37(3) as applied by this section,

(d) meets one or more of the following requirements:

(i) the person holds a qualification listed opposite the profession of social care worker in the third column of Schedule 3 or a corresponding qualification;

(ii) the person holds a professional qualification that, in the opinion of the Social Care Workers Registration Board, is sufficiently relevant to the profession of social care worker and attests to a standard of proficiency corresponding to a qualification listed opposite the profession in the third column of Schedule 3;

(iii) the person successfully completes an assessment of professional competence set by the Social Care Workers Registration Board in accordance with any guidelines issued by the Council;

(iv) subject to subsections (2A) and (3), the person’s employer or former employer attests, by written opinion, to the person’s having achieved the standard of proficiency required for the practice of the profession of social care worker,

(e) satisfies the Social Care Workers Registration Board that the person is a fit and proper person to engage in the practice of the profession of social care worker, and

(f) pays the required fee to the Council.”,

(c) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (2):

“(2A) Nothing in subsection (2)(d)(iv) shall be construed to prevent or restrict the Social Care Workers Registration Board from refusing to grant registration to a person where it is satisfied that it is in the public interest to do so having regard to the person’s proficiency in the profession of social care worker by reference to—

(a) the competence of the employer or former employer concerned to form an opinion, or

(b) the duration of the employment relationship between the person and the employer or former employer concerned.”,

(d) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (3):

“(3) An opinion is not valid for the purpose of subsection (2)(d)(iv) unless the employer or former employer concerned has, in forming the opinion, adhered to any assessment guidelines issued by the Council for that purpose, including on—

(a) an employer’s competence to form an opinion for the purpose of subsection (2)(d)(iv), and

(b) the minimum duration of an employment relationship between the applicant and an employer required to form an opinion for the purpose of subsection (2)(d)(iv).”,

(e) by the deletion of subsection (4), and (f) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (6):

“(7) In this section—

‘Member State’ means—

(a) a state, other than the State, which is a member of the European Union,

(b) a state, other than a member of the European Union, which is a party to the agreement on the European Economic Area signed at Oporto on 2 May 1992 as adjusted by all subsequent amendments to that agreement, and

(c) Switzerland;

‘United Kingdom’ means—

(a) the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland,

(b) the Channel Islands, and (c) the Isle of Man.”.”.