Brendan Ryan (Labour)

I have never been speechless in my life, but I am heading in that direction. One sometimes receives answers which tempt one to become speechless. The list of professions in section 4 includes psychologists. There are good reasons for clearly defining in law the qualifications which should be required if one wishes to be registered as a psychologist. Such reasons relate to public well-being, public health and quality assurance, for example. We allow "quacks"— I use the term advisedly — to put up plates throughout the country, on which they claim to be that which they are not. I should put on the record that my wife is a psychiatrist. I assure those who may suggest that I am defending the profession that I am not doing so.

Those who undergo proper training to become counsellors and therapists should not be gazumped by people who have completed a six-month night diploma. I am horrified by the number of people doing night, part-time and correspondence courses in counselling or various forms of therapy. I am sure some of them become very good counsellors and therapists, but they and the public are entitled to know that a basic standard of qualification is in place. The standard should be regulated by an impartial regulatory body so that one can reasonably expect that people who call themselves counsellors and therapists know what they are doing. If they do not know what they are doing, they will do harm. Thousands of vulnerable people in this country will be open to manipulative exploitation if we have to wait for the HSE, which is swamped with work as it stands, to make a proposal that might lead to some action. It is a great pity the Minister of State will not accept this amendment.