Emer Currie (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Minister on this legislation to deal with the registration of social workers, to look at UK medical degrees and to make sure there is access for training posts in Ireland. I am probably going to be in the same territory as my colleague, Senator Seery Kearney. As we know, CORU is a multi-professional regulator that looks after the nine professions and the hugely valuable work of physiotherapists, speech and language therapists, radiographers, social workers and dieticians but not, at present, psychologists.

Yesterday underlined the urgency of this for me. We know the scale of both the delay and shortages for children in accessing therapists. Yesterday, we heard the Minister of State with responsibility for disability state that she would look at the short-term solution of reimbursing families who resort to private assessments. However, we have a major issue, in that if a person is using a psychologist through the HSE, at least that psychologist has gone through a rigorous screening process to be hired by the HSE. However, that is not in place when it comes to the private sector as far as I am aware. That means children and families are not protected. We know that in desperate situations, people are turning to private psychologists and therapists. Members will have seen the "RTÉ Investigates" programme. I heard that this is really the tip of the iceberg when it comes to rogue operators. I have had my own dealings with professionals in the sector. I believe the Minister's working group was tasked with this in 2017 and given nine months to come up with a solution. We are at the point of an outline plan and a dual-track approach. However, I am also hearing that this is the same approach that has been taken in the UK and that not everybody has confidence in that approach. When a person registers as a social worker, that is perhaps one title, whereas in psychology, there are many different fields. A person who cannot initially be registered under the title of "psychologist" can change his or her title to "child psychologist" or a different kind of psychologist.As it could take years for all the various types of psychology to be covered, we need to adopt a dynamic approach.

Regarding the legislation, CORU issued a press release on 31 March 2023 stating, "The current legislation requires that there must be one common set of qualification requirements and one register for the entire profession." Where is that requirement stated in the Bill and what prevents the title of psychologist from being protected under the legislation? I ask the Minister for Health to engage with the sector on its views about the matter. I believe that down through the years, papers have been written about this issue.

Last night, I attended St. Vincent's University Hospital, which has been helping Ukrainian doctors. I had the honour of presenting 25 doctors with certificates following their completion of an inhouse English course. On previous occasions in this House, I have mentioned the barriers that prevent Ukrainian doctors from registering in this country and thank the Minister for Health for movement on the registration process. For instance, I raised the issue of access to the Professional and Linguistic Assessments Board, PLAB. I wish to acknowledge that the Minister has brought in three pre-registration examination system, PRES, 2 exams and has put in place English language courses and assessments. However, the people concerned must do the English language exam, then they have to do the PRES 2, then they go under a two-year supervision period and then they have to do their PRES 3 exam. If the Minister is making efficiencies in respect of other countries, can the Minister look at this? I ask because people who have qualified, have gone through PRES 3 and are considering specialist areas are starting their careers from scratch. Last night, I met a woman who has been a gynaecologist for 37 years and she told me that she must start her career from scratch here. What can we do about the current situation for Ukrainians? I ask because we know that there is a community of Ukrainians in this country who need people who are familiar with the Ukrainian language etc. to look after them and administer urgent care.

Finally, St. Vincent's University Hospital provided clinical observerships, yet the HSE has not been able to do the same. It also looks like it will be a requirement for Ukrainian doctors to have successfully passed the English exam, when clinical observerships are about observing and do not require people to be hands-on. Observerships give people an oversight of how our healthcare system works. Can we not make observerships happen in hospitals around the country? I ask because yesterday, I met many doctors from the midlands who have hugely benefited from having access to hospitals located around the country. While good work is being done, I refer to the area of supporting these people and ensuring they are included and integrated into the healthcare system wherever possible. I have cited two examples where we are telling people, after they have invested in their careers for years, that they must start over again. What can we do to speed up the process? Can we get people into the clinical observerships as soon as possible? I ask because they really want to work and we need them.