Brendan Ryan (Labour)

What Senator Quinn said is the nub of the issue. One of the wonderful things about dealing with legislation is that one learns a great deal. Given that the citizens of 92 countries accept that physiotherapy and physical therapy are the same profession, when a person sets up a school of physical therapy or calls himself or herself a "physical therapist" and practises as one, that is misleading, although I accept nobody set out to be deliberately so. Nevertheless, it is misleading and it is our job to protect the public from things, which are either deliberately or accidentally misleading. If Senator Quinn, in his other profession, were to carry an advertisement, which suggested something, which was not true, even if it were not his intention to do so he would probably be reprimanded by the Director of Consumer Affairs. In this State alone, the term "physical therapy" is claimed to apply to a different profession while everywhere else the term means the same as "physiotherapy".

I am concerned about the livelihoods of physical therapy practitioners but I am more concerned about the common citizen who needs physiotherapy and mistakenly ends up with a physical therapist. The sensible thing is to describe the profession by its two terms used throughout the world, invite those who commonly describe themselves as physical therapists to find another appropriate and non-misleading title for their profession and let them continue to practise. If they are doing a different job from physiotherapists their profession will not be affected by the name they give themselves because the people who know they are different will be those who consult them. If they have clients who think they are going to a physiotherapist they are, whether deliberately or otherwise, misleading those people. The best thing to do, both for the profession and its clients, is to have a new name, which is not open to misunderstanding.

There are only two issues here. My colleagues and I could have submitted 40,000 amendments about aromatherapy, ki-massage therapy and so on. We did not do that because we understand what is involved. There are two words about which there is some debate. The reasonable thing would have been to listen to the consensus across the House, agree to consider the amendment again on Report Stage and attempt to address a legitimate concern regarding the confusion between two terms which, if rushed, sound identical and which in 92 countries are accepted to be identical.

I appeal to the Minister of State to listen to the arguments put forward and agree to think about the matter. The amendments can be reintroduced on Report Stage when the Minister has had time to consider them. We are, after all, somewhat rushed. The Bill was first debated only last week. It is complicated legislation containing many technical terms. A little time would do no harm.