Mary Henry (Independent)

I move amendment No. 24:

In page 47, between lines 16 and 17, to insert the following new subsections:

"(6) In this Act, the titles physical therapist and physiotherapist are synonymous and both titles use are restricted exclusively to those professionals who are registered as physiotherapists.

(7) In this Act, the titles Podiatrist andChiropodist are synonymous and both titles use are restricted exclusively to those professionals who are registered as Podiatrists."

This situation concerns the protection of titles. I had time to examine other legislation, particularly regarding physical therapists and physiotherapists. I have legislation from the United Kingdom and the State of Victoria in Australia before me. I will quote the latter first. Section 57 of the Physiotherapists Registration Act 1998 states: "A person who is not a registered physiotherapist must not take or use the title of registered physiotherapist or registered physical therapist or any other title calculated to induce a belief that the person is registered under the Act." The equivalent UK legislation provides under the section relating to protected titles for physiotherapist and physical therapist. I am sure I could have found other instances. The UK introduced the Health Care and Associated Professions Order 2001, which was made on 12 February 2002. That is up to date and it states; "A register should have one or more designated title ... physiotherapist and physical therapist."

This issue must be taken seriously. No one is trying to take away the livelihoods of a body of people who do good work but we must ensure our register is in line with other international registers. The Good Friday Agreement specified that the Republic should examine UK legislation in this area. Other registers will be created and, therefore, it should be ascertained what other nomenclature could be used for people who describe themselves as physical therapists. I told their representatives when I was contacted by them that they do extremely useful and good work. I know people who have attended such therapists and found them useful. Most of their work is hands on. It is not beyond the bounds of possibility to come up with a title that would be suitable to establish a register.

Only one school provides training for physical therapists and I do not know whether international bodies should be involved but a separate register must be established with the agreement of those who call themselves "physical therapists" otherwise we will run into trouble if this title is not recognised separate to that of physiotherapist. Their representatives have been saying this for the past ten years or more.

I also included podiatrists and chiropodists in the amendment, as they should be considered synonymous. Last week Senator Ryan stated someone without qualifications could call himself or herself a podiatrist under the legislation and, therefore, it is even more important to explain that podiatry and chiropody are synonymous but both are restricted to people with training and a registration board oversees their training.

Schedule 3 outlines the proper training for all these disciplines but the amendment is useful. I hope the Minister of State will examine it because title is a serious issue. I do not seek to deprive anybody of a living but I wish to ensure people who use a certain title live up to the international nomenclature. I hope the Minister of State will look favourably on the amendment. I am not a proud woman and if he cannot accept it, I am happy for him to reflect on it and ascertain whether he can do anything with it. However, it is worthwhile to tackle this issue because if we do not, something will have to be done down the line and we will have created more problems than we will have solved by creating sloppy registers. No one wants that.