Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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648. To ask the Minister for Health if there is any support or contact available to occupational therapists returning to the profession, in order to facilitate them completing the 420 hours of professional development as required by CORU; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3373/23]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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During the course of their career, many Occupational Therapists may not practise their profession for a period of time. This may occur for many reasons, which could include parental leave, extended travel, caring responsibilities or illness.

We know that these Occupational Therapists may wish to come back to their profession and resume their practice. However, when returning to the profession after a prolonged period (greater than two years), a process of updating or re-familiarisation may be required to ensure safety of both the registrant and the patients or service users in his/her care.

This is why CORU has established the re-familiaristion process and set out Return to Practice requirements.

If the applicant takes a break in their practice of less than two years, they can begin practising again without having to meet any additional requirements set by CORU. If they are returning to the register having been out of practice for between two and five years, a minimum of 210 hours of updating is required.

Where the person is returning to the register after five years or more out of practice, a minimum of 420 hours of updating is required.

The period of updating must consist of contact hours spent engaging in one or more of the following:

1.Supervised practice

2.Formal study, and/or

3.Private study

All applicants are required to prepare a learning plan for discussion and agreement with their supervisor prior to commencing their period of supervised practice.

- the area in which they are going to work when they begin practising again;

- their previous experience;

- any relevant skills they gained while they were out of practice; and

- any relevant developments in their profession while they were out of practice.

The applicant is responsible for their own period of updating and for making sure that they meet standards set by their Board before they return to practice. CORU seeks this information so that it can verify that the updating period took place. CORU does not arrange placements for an applicant and does not provide supports in arranging or facilitating Return to Practise for any profession as to do so could create a conflict of interest when later assessing the undertaking completed by a person seeking to return to the profession in question.

Information is available on the Citizens Information website with details on contacting Occupational Therapy services which may be able to provide assistance on obtaining the relevant development hours stipulated by CORU. Details are available at: Occupational therapy services (citizensinformation.ie)

The applicant can do their period of updating either on a full or part-time basis. They do not have to complete their entire period of updating in one go. The only condition is that all of their updating should be completed no more than two years before they apply for registration or restoration to the register.

If they continued to maintain their continuous professional development (CPD) while out of practice, activities in this area may be submitted for consideration if carried out no more than two years before they apply for registration.

Additional information can be found on the CORU website:

coru.ie/health-and-social-care-professionals/registration/registration-requirements/return-to-practice/