James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Some concern has been raised on this issue. The Minister may be aware there is a pressing matter of the requirement for 100 front-line psychology staff being required to undergo training to remain qualified for their jobs. Changes to criteria have meant a large number of counselling and educational psychologists are being required to complete extensive in-service training to maintain eligibility for their jobs. For educational psychologists that will mean 60 days in-service training to be completed prior to October 2019. For many counselling psychologists it will mean 120 days or even 180 days in-service training. By contrast, psychologists who have recognised placements could be deemed eligible even with no post-training experience. According to some, the criteria for determining which placements are acceptable and which are unacceptable have been poorly defined and appear to have been enacted in an ad hocand highly restrictive manner. For example, experience in the Irish Prison Service does not count as experience in adult psychology and experience with specialist services does not count at all, even when those services are operated by the HSE itself.

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