Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Craughwell for raising this issue today. As the Senator will be aware, psychologists employed by the health service play an integral role in the delivery of a wide range of psychological services. These include working with children and their families who present with developmental, emotional or behavioural difficulties and others who have intellectual and physical disabilities. Services also include working with adolescents with a wide range of difficulties from adjustment problems to serious mental health issues and working with adults who present with mental health problems, including anxiety, depression and mental disorders.

The HSE employs professionally trained psychologists, including counselling psychologists, clinical psychologists and educational psychologists, in a range of roles across the health service. Psychologists working in the health service provide their services in a number of different ways - as part of a multidisciplinary team of health professionals, as part of a network of health professionals or as sole health professionals providing a service to a client. They provide services across a broad range of settings, including community-based health centres, residential centres, nursing homes and hospitals.

Under section 22 of the Health Act 2004, the HSE has the authority to appoint persons to be employees and may determine their duties. This includes appointments to psychology services. The HSE is bound under section 22 of the Act to conduct recruitment in accordance with the provisions of the Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Act 2004, which is underpinned by codes of practice. The Commission for Public Service Appointments is the independent body established in 2004 to ensure that these codes of practice are adhered to. The HSE's national recruitment service conducts all recruitment activity for the health service, including recruitment to all positions in the psychology service. The HSE is responsible for determining eligibility criteria for recruitment purposes, and this has been fully acknowledged and accepted by the CPSA.

As the Senator will be aware, it has been the HSE's intention to undertake a review of the recruitment and selection criteria for psychology grades in the health service. A working group is being established by the HSE and it is expected that the work will commence within two weeks. The terms of reference are currently being finalised and it is hoped the group will deliver its recommendations within six months. In the interests of service users and their families, I, along with the Minister for State with responsibility for primary and social care, welcome the consideration the HSE is giving to this important issue, and we look forward to receiving the group's review report, once completed.