John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

When I was a Member of the other House I had cause to lament when a Minister for the relevant Department was not in attendance to deal with my Adjournment matters. I have no argument with the Minister of State, Deputy Costello, but there are enough Ministers of State in the Department of Health to allow one of them to deal with the response to my matter which is particularly important.

I refer to the provision of psychological services across the country, in particular, the hiring practices used by the HSE for the recruitment of psychologists. The Minister of State may have to correct me but since 2009 the HSE has imposed a block on the hiring of counselling and educational psychologists to fill positions which are filled only by clinical psychologists. This is despite the fact that the same primary degree qualification applies to all and despite the fact that everywhere in the western world both counselling and educational psychologists are hired to fill vacancies in health services. The policy of the HSE is strange given that so many psychology posts remain unfilled across the country, not least in my own part of the world. Approximately 20 posts remain unfilled. This means that the HSE is recruiting specifically clinical psychologists from other jurisdictions - from the UK in particular - while qualified psychologists with an educational or counselling background have to leave here and are hired by the NHS to do the same job in the health service of our nearest neighbour. In earlier business today the House discussed reform of the health service and new governance for the HSE. This very strange practice of recruitment is like no other in any country that I know of, and should be discontinued.

Sixty counselling psychologists passed a HSE interview between 2009 and 2012 and have been placed on a panel for employment, yet because of the bar that exists, they cannot be hired. Crazily, despite the fact that students on placement from college who are not fully qualified either as educational or counselling psychologists can work alongside students of clinical psychology, only clinical psychologists can be hired by the HSE because of the existing practice in the Republic. Effectively, all counselling psychologists must travel to other jurisdictions to get work. Many are working in the United Kingdom, including Northern Ireland, and in Australia, Canada and other countries. While this is happening, we are advertising overseas. We cannot get enough graduates from overseas to fill the vacancies that exist here.

Only approximately 70 clinical psychologists qualify annually in Ireland. Last year, there were more than 90 vacancies to be filled. As a consequence, approximately 20 vacancies remain unfilled despite the fact that the HSE held a further recruitment drive in the United Kingdom in November. We have been unable to get more than two suitably qualified people to fill the vacancies. I ask that the Department and HSE change the recruitment policy with regard to psychologists.

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