Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and this Health and Social Care Professionals (Amendment) Bill. The 2005 Act was very important legislation for ensuring the highest standards in certain professions and protecting the public by regulating certain health care providers. We have seen in other sectors of society what happens when there is a lack of regulation. This Bill, while technical in nature, augments that important work.

The Act sets out the details on membership, fees, fines and other criteria. It also transposes provisions contained in an EU directive which facilitates the mutual recognition of qualifications across member states. The reference to the EU is significant. Over the last two decades we have seen the consolidation of the Single Market and experience has shown that creating a single market for professions is more difficult than for goods and services due to the different standards of training, educational qualifications and regulations in the member states. As a result, the regulatory role of member states has increased in significance as each state works to uphold consistent safety and professional standards across the Union.

Our membership of the EU and the dynamics of health care mean that many of the providers and practitioners are from outside the European Union. Section 9, therefore, is of particular importance as it has become imperative that a mechanism for measuring and recognising qualifications outside the EU be implemented. In Ireland, the Health and Social Care Professionals Act ensured that only professionals who have met a minimum standard and who have registered with the council established by the Act could use the relevant titles. The Act has had a number of positive consequences in ensuring fairness by permitting all practitioners to register under the same system and, perhaps more importantly, in facilitating greater confidence among the public.

This Bill will complement the earlier Act by ensuring that only genuine, qualified professionals can use the titles of the 12 professions listed. Given that these professions concern health care, this is most reassuring. The Bill will also help to achieve the objective of providing a single body to regulate. It also demonstrates the work of the Department of Health, so often criticised by some, in technical and administrative areas, which ensures that the HSE can concentrate on health care provision. Critics might say that such legislation introduces barriers and makes it more difficult for practitioners to enter the professions, but I believe that no genuine practitioner who has worked hard to achieve a qualification will object to such legislation. The Bill not only protects the public but also the honest dedicated practitioners who have worked so hard to achieve their qualification.

The Minister for Health is empowered with other functions, however, and I urge him to explore the powers set out in section 4 of the original Act. It is entirely understandable that it takes time to bring 12 significant professions under the regulation of a single council but there are other professions which would benefit from inclusion, as other Deputies have mentioned. One such profession is the creative arts therapist, whose practitioners work in such areas as mental health care, special education and so forth in communities throughout the country. Despite the fact that many of the practitioners in this area graduated from the University of Limerick, NUI Maynooth and Cork Institute of Technology and are accredited to the Irish Association of Creative Arts Therapists, there is no State recognition. In reality, anybody can use the title of creative arts therapist and work with some of the most vulnerable people in our society.

Like many other Members, I have been contacted by the Irish Association of Creative Arts Therapists. It states in its correspondence that what is of most concern is that by failing to recognise and regulate its profession, the Irish Government puts some of the most vulnerable client groups at risk when anybody can use the title of music, dance, art or drama therapist without ever having completed the high standard of professional training that is correctly required to be deemed a qualified practitioner.

This is worrying for the majority of the work lies in areas such as mental health, special education, intellectual disability and end of life care. A dangerous situation prevails at present, the letter continues, whereby the state and welfare of some of our most vulnerable client groups is not protected through lack of action by the Government for the past 20 years. Taking those points on board, it is important we explore this profession because it would benefit significantly from a further amendment to the Health and Social Care Professions Act.

There are other professions; Deputy Neville mentioned psychotherapists and I support the calls for their inclusion, and there are other professions that could be added to the list. By doing so, we are not only protecting the public by ensuring high standards of health care, but that there are genuine, qualified practitioners working in health care professions across the country. They would like to see this type of inclusion. It protects them and recognises their work, training and qualifications.

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