Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 7:

In page 32, between lines 28 and 29, to insert the following: “Amendment of section 36 of Act of 2005

29. Section 36 of the Act of 2005 is amended, in subsection (1), by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (a):

“(a) within one year after the board’s establishment day, or within one year of the enactment of this Act if the registration board was established prior to the enactment of this Act, establish a register of members of that profession.”.”.

This amendment is self-explanatory in what it seeks to do by making that addition to the Act. With the indulgence of the Cathaoirleach, I will give a brief background to my proposed amendment. Counselling and psychotherapy, CP, is a relatively new profession in this State. It grew in response to long-standing severe deficits in mental health services and the need for an effective and accessible alternative to the medical model of treatment. It is now developed and well-respected. It embraces a wide variety of issues, including addiction, depression, anxiety states, family problems, rape crisis, bereavement, PTSD, children and adolescent mental health, etc. Four-year training courses to master's level in psychotherapy are now available, as well as three and four-year courses to BA level in counselling in some universities and ITs. The profession is currently self-regulated, with clearly defined accreditation criteria and procedures with two main professional bodies. There are 6,000 practitioners in the State.

Following extensive deliberations, study and lengthy public consultation, statutory registration for CP was specifically approved by the Dáil in 2019 under the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005. This was widely considered appropriate for the protection of the public and the development of the profession in the interests of the community. A registration board for CP was recruited by the regulator CORU and established in 2019. During this process, the Government position was that it was pushing through with this registration quickly and decisively as an enlightened policy.

Counselling and psychotherapy has been accorded a key role under the newly-announced Government mental health policy, Sharing the Vision, which has all-party support. For example, recommendation No. 16 of Sharing the Vision states:

Access to a range of counselling supports and talk therapies in the community/primary care should be available on the basis of identified need so that all individuals, across the lifespan, with a mild-to-moderate mental health difficulty can receive prompt access to accessible care through their GP/Primary Care Centre. Counselling supports and talk therapies must be delivered by appropriately qualified and accredited professionals.

It is clear that the sector requires some further development and accreditation regulations to fulfil its mental health policy role.There are two registers, as announced by the Minister for Health, under the newly-established registration board, for both counselling and psychotherapy. The registration requirement for counselling is expected to be level 8, via a bachelor's degree, while for psychotherapy, at least level 9, a master's degree. The existing professional bodies, such as the Irish Council for Psychotherapy, the Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy and the Irish Association of Humanistic and Integrative Psychotherapy, would lose all accreditation powers in respect of both individuals and courses under the new arrangements. CORU announced suddenly, in meetings with counselling and psychotherapy professional bodies in July 2019, that all this progress was to be stopped and that statutory registration would not happen for at least five years.

This is an area of deep frustration and disappointment for that sector. While I appreciate that it is a sector within the broadest remit of the Department, and that various medical and healthcare services need to be provided, it is crucial that we support it in its work and that it have the opportunity to be registered and accredited in a way that does not raise the bar beyond the reach of many existing professionals.

The wording of the amendment is clear. I wished only to provide some context and I hope Senators will be prepared to support the amendment on that basis.