Tom Neville (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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143. To ask the Minister for Health the status of the regulation of psychotherapists and counsellors [15577/17]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Psychotherapists and counsellors are not currently regulated under the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005. However, the Act provides that the Minister may, by regulation, designate a health and social care profession not already designated if he or she considers that it is appropriate and in the public interest to do so and if specified criteria have been met.

The regulation of a new profession under the Act involves a consultation process and the making of a number of statutory instruments by the Minister for Health and by the relevant registration board.

In September of last year, the Department engaged in a formal consultation process in which interested persons and organisations were invited to formally submit their views on how the statutory regulation of the counsellors and psychotherapists should proceed. A total of 84 submissions were received by the closing date of 30th November 2016.

I am undertaking an examination of these submissions which will inform the approach to be adopted in progressing the statutory regulation of psychotherapists and counsellors under the Act and I envisage that the next steps will commence in the coming months with the submission of draft designation regulations to the Houses of the Oireachtas.