Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 150: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if her attention has been drawn to the existence of rogue crisis pregnancy agencies; the steps she has taken to prevent such agencies from actively operating; if she will introduce legislation to outlaw same in order to protect women; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35301/09]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
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I assume that the Deputy is referring to agencies which seek to manipulate women by providing a "disingenuous" crisis pregnancy counselling and/or information service.

The Crisis Pregnancy Agency was established in October 2001 and is to be integrated with the HSE at the end of this year as part of the Government's programme of rationalisation of State agencies. Among the Agency's mandates is the provision of services and supports to women experiencing crisis pregnancy with a view to reducing the number of women with crisis pregnancy who opt for abortion. The Agency supports the delivery of crisis pregnancy and post termination counselling services through service level agreements with 14 providers operating in over 50 locations nationwide.

The Crisis Pregnancy Agency is aware of the existence of a number of agencies which seek to manipulate women by providing a "disingenuous" crisis pregnancy counselling and/or information service. The Agency is working on a wide range of actions to address this issue. These actions include:

A public awareness campaign which I launched in July 2009 entitled "Don't be manipulated" which highlights the existence of disingenuous agencies and promotes the availability of free, non-judgemental state-funded crisis pregnancy services.

Continuous promotion through the "Positive Options" campaign of the availability of free, non-judgemental and confidential state-funded crisis pregnancy counselling services.

Redevelopment of the "Positive Options" website to highlight the actions of disingenuous agencies and to give guidance on how to deal with same.

Prominent advertising of "Positive Options" and consumer tips in the Golden Pages, including the regional directories, under "Pregnancy Testing and Counselling" and "Family Planning" sections. The use of a common logo for all state funded counselling services in current editions of the Directories.

Funding of resources which provide clear objective information on the adoption process. The Agency provides information on adoption in manuals used in the training of bona-fide crisis pregnancy counsellors.

Expansion of crisis pregnancy counselling services nationally by over 50% since the Agency was established in 2001.

Guidance for crisis pregnancy counselling services in responding to third party complaints they may receive about "disingenuous" counselling services.

Standardised training and up-skilling for counsellors in state-funded crisis pregnancy counselling services.

The Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005 provides for the establishment of a system of statutory registration for certain health and social care professionals. The Council's priority is to put in place the regulatory structures for the first 12 designated professions initially. These 12 professions do not include counsellors. After that, the Council will examine the regulation of a number of other professionals possibly including counsellors.