Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I join in welcoming the Minister to the House, and I acknowledge the dynamism and commitment he brings to his Ministry. We are delighted to have him in the House yet again.

My party is happy to commend the Bill also and to add to the unanimity around it. The Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005 was of extraordinary importance. It established statutory regulation which was crucial for the whole social care practitioner area. Societal change, the needs and complexities of society, greater resources and a new environment have all created myriad new social care worker areas. Therefore, regulation was and is crucial, and the 2005 legislation was seminal to that extent. It established statutory legislation which ensures there is a minimum standard of education, proficiency and, insofar as it can be achieved, objective standardisation in these professions, which is to be welcomed.I commend and welcome the amendment to the 2005 Act proposed by the Minister in the Bill to incorporate non-EEA personnel who have qualifications previously validated by the regulatory bodies in the host country, in this case, Ireland, whereby they will automatically gain registration and acceptance, as would be the case if they were from the EEA. This is the objective of the Bill.

Having commended and endorsed the Bill, and having recognised the serious importance of the 2005 Act in the first instance, I will make some general observations. The Minister referenced the importance of regulating counsellors and psychotherapists. As he said, people are in a very vulnerable state when they go to somebody like this. They almost put themselves in a complete dependency situation. It could be extraordinarily dangerous if we do not have the highest standards and regulations, proper qualifications and recognised monitoring and establishment of those occupations. This is crucial. As the Minister said, this all happens under CORU, the registration body for all 17 designated health and social care areas. It is good that the range is wide and that nothing escapes this net.

This is a Second Stage debate, which allows a level of latitude, but my next point is pertinent. I have discovered through meeting people and through general evidence, anecdotal and otherwise, that there is a huge problem with CORU's speed of processing. I have come across instances of returning emigrants who, to continue in their profession, must establish that while they were abroad, they gained a certain amount of professional experience. There is undue delay because, they are told, there must be a board meeting but surely a board could have designated officers who operate the established criteria of the board. These would be proper professionals who understand the board's objectives and criteria and who could adjudicate on individual applicants with haste, without a lack of thoroughness but with haste. Returning emigrants deserve this.

We are encouraging nurses, health professionals and social care professionals to return to Ireland and it is wonderful we are in this space. The Minister has made a big effort to get many health professionals back working in this country. If we invite them back should we leave them in limbo? I could cite for the Minister privately later, as it would not be appropriate to do so publicly, instances of people sitting for months awaiting registration after returning home. In one instance a particular high-quality professional is working in the bar business. There is absolutely nothing wrong with working in the bar business per sebut she is working in hospitality when in fact she is a qualified professional who has worked abroad. She has been waiting for months for the registration process. This is completely unacceptable. The Minister is a very senior member of the Cabinet and this point needs to be made to him. We encounter emigrants coming home from Australia, the US and England who are allegedly welcomed to Ireland, and we would all state there is a céad míle fáilte for them, but they are having nightmares with banking, insurance and driver licenses. To be germane to what we are speaking about, they are having nightmares with delays in professional recognition. These roadblocks to the talent and brains we are trying to attract back to our country should be removed. It is a real issue. I encounter it throughout the area and it needs addressing.

I ask the Minister to examine two particular issues with CORU. These are whether it needs more staffing resources and the degree to which it could delegate within the organisation in order that it is not necessary to have cumbersome board meetings - that happen only at intervals of a few months - to register people . This would mean that someone who appears with qualifications does not have to wait for the next board meeting. I gather the next meeting is scheduled for November, which is appalling if it is true. If it is not true I would be happy to be so informed by the Minister but I understand the next board meeting of CORU to process material will be in November. What happens to a person who has come home and who has dependants, a mortgage and normal living expenses which, God knows, are high? What must that person do in the intervening period?

As a professional myself, I cannot see how established professional people in CORU, who understand the objectives of the board, could not be delegated with the capacity to register people on a day-to-day basis. There should not be a cumbersome bureaucratic procedure. An issue of policy and accepting a particular qualification may arise in a broad sense but surely it could be executed efficiently on a day-to-day basis. I look forward to hearing the response of the Minister on a real issue for the people whom I represent.