Dan Neville (Limerick, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I too welcome the passage of the Bill which will bring to an end the delay in the introduction of the councils. It is seven years since the original Health and Social Care Professionals Act was passed. I was involved in the debate at the time and everybody accepted, including the then Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, former Deputy Tim O'Malley, that the professions of counselling and psychotherapy should be included in that legislation. However, there was disagreement among the professional bodies at the time and the then Minister of State suggested there might be legal difficulties in doing so, but he gave a guarantee that once agreement was reached, he would do so, He also said that if agreement was not reached, he would do it anyway. Some 22 psychological therapies organisations came together, reached an agreement and drew up a report which was presented to the then Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, former Deputy John Moloney in 2008. However, very little, if anything, has happened since.

I welcome the announcement by the Minister of State that he is progressing that issue to ensure regulations will be put in place because it is a very serious matter. Untrained and unqualified individuals are acting as counsellors and psychotherapists and engaging with very vulnerable persons who are suicidal, suffering from eating and various psychological disorders. There is no regulation in this area. The Minister of State referred to the fact that organisations were providing short courses and awarding "qualifications" to allow people to act as psychotherapists. He promised that he would try to deal with this issue before the regulations came into force, about which I am very pleased.

I will give Deputies two quick examples of the courses which cause concern. I have a leaflet advertising an advanced diploma in suicide studies, a three module course. The first on suicide prevention is run over two weekends. The second and third modules on suicide intervention and suicide post intervention measures are also run over two weekends. Therefore, the prospective student will receive an advanced diploma in suicide studies after six weekends. I have another brochure advertising a course on eating disorders. There are seven modules run over seven weekends. At the end of the course the student is awarded a diploma in practitioner skills for eating disorders. As Deputies will know, eating disorders are highly complex and involve psychological, psychiatric and general medicine aspects and sufferers have physical, mental and psychological issues. The cost of the aforementioned course is €3,000. The leaflet advises that the course is aimed at professionals, but when the brochure was brought to my attention some years ago, my secretary who has no interest in the area applied for a place on the course. She received a reply immediately, with a hand-written note welcoming her to the course, despite the fact that she had no related qualifications. Thus, over seven weekends, she was able to obtain a diploma in practitioner skills for eating disorders. This illustrates the seriousness of the issue. We must protect vulnerable individuals.

In November 2011, The Irish Timesreported on a high-profile psychotherapist who was charging €3,000 for a course leading to a diploma in the treatment of eating disorders despite having no official professional accreditation in Ireland or medical or psychological qualifications from any university. The psychotherapist claimed that diplomas were accredited to the British Psychological Society but a spokesman for the society stated that it did not recognise any of the courses offered by her organisation.

This case demonstrates the need for regulation. I have been dealing with reputable Irish professional psychology bodies for many years and they do very good work. A total of 22 organisations operate in the field of psychological therapies, including counselling and psychotherapy. This is a broad area which includes marriage counselling and a range of societal counselling. These organisations register people in a proper manner but the looseness of the regulatory environment should have been addressed many years ago. We would not dream of allowing a doctor or nurse to operate without being registered. Perhaps one of the reasons for the lack of regulation is that counselling and psychological therapy is a new field relative to other professions.

I acknowledge the Minister's position on the issue. There is no difficulty in regulating psychotherapists, but how does one define and regulate a counsellor? Are the members of the Council of State counsellors? They are, because they advise the President. There are good community counsellors who know where to refer people and are conscious of the limits of their knowledge. They will not go beyond those limits in advising people on finance, day-to-day living or household budgeting. They do good work within the limits of their knowledge, but we must ensure that people operating in the delicate area of psychotherapy and counselling are regulated. Bodywhys, the eating disorders association, has reported that people have been seriously damaged by unqualified counsellors. As Members will be aware, there is a high level of mortality among those with eating disorders.

I welcome the passage of the Bill. The Minister's objective is to finalise the Bill in 2013.

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