Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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457. To ask the Minister for Health the progress which has been made in relation to the regulation of counsellors and psychotherapists; the steps he will take to tackle the continuing operation of crisis pregnancy agencies which provide false and misleading information to women in crisis pregnancy situations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32668/17]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I recently concluded a public consultation on my proposal to regulate counsellors generally under the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005. Pregnancy counselling (other than that provided by doctors, nurses or social workers) will be taken into account in the context of this proposal.

On foot of the consultation process, I decided last month to proceed with the designation of two distinct professions under the Act, that of counsellor and psychotherapist. Each will have its own register under one registration board. This decision has now been communicated to the Health and Social Care Professionals Council, the relevant professional bodies and all the respondents to the public consultation process.

The Department is now preparing the necessary regulations to designate the professions. These regulations, when drafted by the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel, will require the prior approval of this House and that of the Seanad. These will be the first in a suite of regulations that will need to be made over a period of time. It is hoped that the draft regulations will be ready for submission to the Oireachtas in the autumn.

In relation to crisis pregnancy counselling, a primary concern of government is the protection of the public when availing of health or social care services. A crisis pregnancy is perhaps one of the most stressful events in a woman’s life and therefore places her in a very vulnerable position. Positive Options, a crisis pregnancy service which is funded and overseen by the Health Service Executive, provides counselling in 50 locations nationwide and provides women with free, non-judgemental counselling.

I am aware, however, that some other bodies providing counselling may not adhere to the same standards. There have been media reports of such bodies providing information that is not truthful or objective and this is a cause of concern. The Regulation of Information (Services Outside the State for Termination of Pregnancies) Act, 1995 defines the conditions under which information relating to abortion services lawfully available in another state might be made available in Ireland. That Act provides that where information is provided that would assist a woman in obtaining a termination abroad, that information must be truthful and objective and that a breach of this provision would be an offence. If an individual considers that information provided under the Act is not truthful and objective the matter may be referred to an Garda Síochána for investigation.

The Department of Health is reviewing this legislation to establish if its provisions need to be strengthened and legal advice has been received. One possibility would be to amend the 1995 Information Act, when counsellors are regulated under the 2005 Act, to prevent professionals who are not regulated by the State from providing crisis pregnancy counselling services.