Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will speak on the regulation of counsellors and psychotherapists under the auspices of CORU. The Minister of State will be aware these regulations were made by her predecessor in 2018. Members were appointed to the Counsellors and Psychotherapists Registration Board in May 2019. The board has 12 very experienced members and it met three times in 2019, four times in 2020 and seven times in 2021 and it has met six times so far in 2022. Therefore, the board has met 20 times since 2019. Four years after the Minister of State's predecessor initiated this process and after 20 meetings of the board, we still do not know when counsellors and psychotherapists will be regulated through CORU. I have met representatives of groups, as I am sure has the Minister of State, such as the Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy and Therapists for Change. They are not able to tell their members when they will be regulated in respect of their concerns.

In fact, I sent an email to the Minister of State earlier this month on behalf of the Therapists for Change group, which I will now read. It states that the author is writing to the Minister of State as a member of Therapists for Change, that she may remember that the organisation wrote to her in June 2021 and April 2022 to ask if she could meet with its representatives and that, in good faith, the Minister of State responded with the suggestion that Therapists for Change contact CORU, which was appreciated. The email message continues that when the organisation wrote to CORU on 25 April 2022 seeking a meeting, CORU responded with a generic letter and did not address the request. The email points out that Therapists for Change wrote to CORU again on 10 June 2022 and notes that no response has yet been received.

It will be appreciated that counsellors and psychotherapists have many concerns about statutory regulation and how that will effect them, including whether the courses they are undertaking or have completed will be eligible for registration. As discussed already, we heard about the situation with students in the Dublin Business School who were sold courses for social care roles and now find they may not be eligible for registration with CORU. Some counsellors and psychotherapists find themselves in this situation too. Concerns also include how and if a grandparent scheme will be put in place. Psychotherapists need to make plans to ensure that what they are doing now meets the criteria for future registration.

A meeting with CORU to answer these questions would allay the fears of Therapists for Change and make the transition as problem free as possible. It would also be a gesture of goodwill. The group is writing to the Minister of State to see if she can meet with them or intervene with CORU to see if a meeting with its representatives can be arranged. The group would very much appreciate the Minister of State's advice and help with this matter so some clarity can be brought to the situation for the great many counsellors and psychotherapists who are anxious about their future. I note the Minister of State probably cannot answer now, but will she agree to have this meeting or could she intervene with CORU in respect of setting up a meeting?

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