Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The HSE recommend that people should contact My Options which is the official HSE service if they need information or support in the event of an unplanned pregnancy, or if they need post-abortion supports.

My Options is a free-phone helpline that provides free, non-judgemental information and support to anyone in Ireland experiencing an unplanned pregnancy, including information about how to access abortion services in Ireland. Qualified and trained counsellors are also available to provide free counselling to anyone in Ireland who is considering an abortion, or who has had an abortion regardless of where or when the abortion occurred.

Since the implementation of the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018, the HSE Sexual Health and Crisis Pregnancy Programme has solely funded crisis pregnancy counselling services that provide information about all options (parenting, adoption, and abortion) as desired by individual service users. Between 2018 and 2022, there were 15 reported incidents of service users attending the above services having been in prior contact with a ‘rogue’ agency, however none of these incidents occurred in 2022.

The HSE’s website (www2.hse.ie/services/unplanned-pregnancy/support-services/booking-a-counselling-session/) advises service users that they should only visit a HSE-funded unplanned pregnancy counselling service.

In relation to the regulation of the profession of counsellor generally, CORU is Ireland’s multi-profession health and social care professional regulator. Its role is to protect the public by promoting high standards of professional conduct and professional education, training and competence through statutory registration of health and social care professionals.

CORU’s regulatory model is based on protection of title; once a profession is regulated it becomes a criminal offence to use a professional title if a person is not a CORU registrant.

Each profession has its own independent registration board which is provided with the statutory powers to implement regulation for that profession. Registration boards are responsible for establishing a register, approving and monitoring education and training programmes, and setting standards.

Regulations to designate the professions of counsellor and psychotherapist under the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005 (as amended) were made by the previous Minister for Health in 2019.The members of the Counsellors and Psychotherapists Registration Board (CPRB) were appointed in February 2019 and they held their inaugural meeting in May 2019.

The CPRB is currently considering which titles will be protected by regulation, the minimum standards of proficiency for entry to the profession, the minimum qualifications that will be required of existing practitioners, and the qualifications that will be required for future graduates.

The work of the CPRB is significantly more challenging than for registration boards for some of the more established professions, owing to the different and complex entry paths into these professions, the variety of titles used, and the variety and number of courses and course providers.

Once statutory regulation is introduced to the counselling and psychotherapy professions, practitioners wishing to work using these titles in Ireland will have to register with CORU on the appropriate register. The CPRB will set the standard of education and training for entry to the register and approve and monitor education and training programmes in counselling and psychotherapy. It will be an offence for anyone not registered as a counsellor, including a crisis pregnancy counsellor, to use a protected title. All registrants will also be subject to the fitness to practice process in CORU which provides for sanctions against registrants when complaints are proven.

Owing to the significant body of preparatory work that the CPRB are required to undertake, and the complexity of introducing regulation to this profession, it is not possible to say with any degree of accuracy when the profession of counsellor will be fully regulated. It is anticipated that the CPRB will require a number of years to complete its work.