Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the Minister's collaborative approach on this and the movement he has made on the general principles of what I was trying to achieve. I am not aware of that list of the 20-plus additional professions having been published anywhere. I have looked for it. I would appreciate it if I could get a copy of it from the Minister. One of his officials might take note of that. I am also very keen to know whether the two professions to which I referred are on that list. The Minister also made the point that it is not a requirement to be a regulated professional to be employed in the public service. There is perhaps a different understanding of that on the part of those people who have qualified. I am talking in particular about athletic therapists. As I said, this is a very high-level degree course, a four-year honours degree course, and there is clinical placement after it. It may be the case that one can be employed even without one's profession being regulated, but that specific profession does not exist in the public sector. It exists in the private sector, and that is where many of the graduates are being employed. The Minister might send me a note on that, the athletic therapists in particular. How can we achieve a situation where these highly qualified people, who are in very high demand in the private sector, can access employment in the public sector? Is there a need to add that role to the list of various roles for which the HSE recruits? At the moment it does not recruit athletic therapists. Maybe the Minister would get me a note on that. I would appreciate that. On that basis, and if I could have those two pieces of information, I would be happy to withdraw my amendment in favour of the Minister's.

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