Written answers

Thursday, 26 March 2009

Department of Health and Children

Statutory Registration

4:00 pm

Photo of Dan NevilleDan Neville (Limerick West, Fine Gael)
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Question 111: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the position regarding the setting up of the Health and Social Care Professionals Council and of registration boards for certain designated health and social care professionals; and the designated professions under section 4 of the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005 for which established boards have been set up in view of the fact that this Act was signed into law on 30 November 2005. [12625/09]

Photo of Mary HarneyMary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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The Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005 provides for the establishment of a system of statutory registration for 12 health and social care professionals. This new system of statutory registration will apply to the twelve professions regardless of whether they work in the public or private sector or are self-employed and is the first time that fitness to practise procedures will be put in place for these professionals on a statutory basis. The structure of the system of statutory registration will comprise a registration board for each of the professions to be registered, a Health and Social Care Professionals Council with overall responsibility for the regulatory system and a committee structure to deal with disciplinary matters. While the proposed system of statutory registration applies, in the first instance to twelve health and social care professions, the legislation empowers the Minister for Health and Children to include, on the basis of specific criteria, additional health and social care professions in the regulatory system by regulation over time, as appropriate.

The first step in the implementation of the system was the establishment of the Health and Social Care Professionals Council, launched in March 2007. The Council has now recruited a Chief Executive Officer in May of last year and is currently putting in place a suitable organisational structure. The Council has examined which professions from within the designated twelve are most suitable for early registration and has decided to appoint the first two of twelve statutory Registration Boards, provided for under the Act. The Social Workers Registration Board and the Physiotherapists Registration Board are the first two registration boards prioritised for registration in 2009. It is proposed that two additional registration boards will be established by the end of 2009 and a decision regarding the order of roll-out of these additional boards will be made by the Council in due course.

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