Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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Question 531: To ask the Minister for Health if consideration will be given to amending the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005 to include creative arts therapists on the list of recognised professionals in view of the fact that such an eventuality would enhance client safety and welfare while also recognising the benefits of arts therapies [33636/12]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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The Health and Social Care Professionals Council, established in 2007 and the 12 registration boards being established under the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005 (the Act) will be responsible for protecting the public by regulating health and social care professionals in Ireland. The object of the Council is to protect the public by promoting high standards of professional conduct and professional education, training and competence among the registrants of the following 12 health and social care professions designated under the Act: clinical biochemists, dietitians, medical scientists, occupational therapists, orthoptists, physiotherapists, podiatrists, psychologists, radiographers, social care workers, social workers and speech and language therapists. In time, only registrants will be entitled to use these titles.

These 12 professions were designated in the Act which is being implemented on a phased basis, and currently 2 registration boards have been established. These are the Social Workers Registration Board and the Radiographers Registration Board. It is hoped that the remaining 10 registration boards and their registers will be established by end 2014.

While the proposed system of statutory registration applies, in the first instance, to 12 health and social care professions, the legislation empowers the Minister for Health to include, if he considers it appropriate and in the public interest to do so, additional health and social care professions in the regulatory system over time, as appropriate. Section 4 of the Act provides a definition of a health and social care profession and also sets out the factors governing the subsequent addition of any further professions into the regulatory system at a later date, including:

(a) The extent to which the profession has a defined scope of practice and applies a distinct body of knowledge;

(b) The extent to which the profession has established itself, including whether there is at least one professional body representing a significant proportion of the profession's practitioners;

(c) The existence of defined routes of entry into the profession and of independently assessed entry qualifications;

(d) The profession's commitment to continuous professional development;

(e) The degree of risk to the health, safety or welfare of the public from incompetent, unethical or impaired practice of the profession;

(f) Any other factors that the Minister for Health considers relevant

The priority at present for my Department is to develop statutory registration for the 12 professions specified in the Act in the first instance. The extension under the Act of statutory registration arrangements for other health and social care professionals will not be considered until after the initial designated 12 professional grades have been fully dealt with.

Government approval was given in July 2011 to the drafting of the Health and Social Care Professionals (Amendment) Bill to

(i) remove difficulties in relation to the effective operation of the Health and Social Care Professionals Council, in particular to urgently provide for the Minister to continue to appoint professional representatives to the Council from the designated professions under the Act, whose term of office expired in March 2011, and

(ii) implement Directive 2005/36/EC on the recognition of professional qualifications in respect of the professions designated under the 2005 Act and provide a legal base for the assessment of qualifications which are outside the scope of the Directive.

Drafting is now at an advanced stage and as the proposed amendments are technical in nature and simply facilitate the more effective operation of the Act it is hoped that the Bill may be enacted at an early date. It is not my intention to revise the terms and provisions of the Bill at this juncture to include the regulation of any additional health and social care professions not designated under the Act.